Project Darkness
by Skydreams1
Summary: An unknown man is chased through a forest before being shot down by people he seems to recognize. When he wakes up, he finds a girl that is unfamiliar to him standing over him. She, along with her group, takes the man back to where they're staying, a place called "Omnibasu Academy". He remembers nothing, but he knows he's being hunted. His story... has yet to be told.
1. Prologue: Acension Through Escape

Prologue: Ascension through Escape

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

 _I ran. I don't know for how long. I had to get away from them. They… they were my friends. I don't know what kind of monsters they were, but they weren't who they once were. They were killing machines, with one goal in mind: Kill me. I knew why they wanted me dead. I was defective. I was bred to be the ultimate killing machine, but something went wrong. I felt… emotions. Usually, if you feel emotions, you can tell what's right and wrong. You get a sense of morals. It's up to you to follow those morals. Right now, it's dark. I'm in some kind of forest. I've never been outside the lab. I hear their footsteps. Moving in perfect synchronization. I took a peek from my hiding spot. I see him. Project Gemini. Well, to be clear, I see both of them. They don't look happy, to say the least. I need to be careful about how I approach thi-._

A mysterious figure watches from the shadows as a beaten and bruised person stumbles and falls over. His attack was dead on. He never saw it coming. "Gemini. He's down. Get over here." The two figures approached him and spoke in perfect unison. "Nice shot, Shadow. I figured you would have just killed him." The singular figure shook his head. "Our orders were to disable him and collect the data he held. Not kill him. We'll just leave him to die. It's a shame that the doctor's own creation betrayed him, especially when he's closer to human than any of us." The figure stopped for a moment before continuing. "Maybe that's a flaw in itself, being human. What do you think?" The duo across from him paused for a moment. "It's not in me to think about stuff like that. Let's just get the data and leave him here. He won't be that big of a threat to us if he doesn't have that data." The duo leaned over the man on the ground, places their hands on him, and stood up. "Data secured. Let's head back. There's nothing left for us here." The two known as Gemini disappeared into the forest. The man known as Shadow stood there for a moment and looked down at the man. "Project Delta… His only failed project… I hope to God that the Guardians were right about this one…" He knelt down, placed a single Shuriken on the ground next to him, and stood up. "You'll need that more than I will." The figure disappeared into the forest, leaving the beaten man alone.

He awoke some time later to some people standing over them. He recognized none of them. He sat straight up and became very aware of pain all over his body. He winced, and the people stepped back, except for one. A red haired girl, with a very beautiful figure. She spoke to him. "Are you okay? Do you remember who you are?" He scratched his head. "P-Project Delta. I think… I-I don't remember…." She smiled at him. "Alright. How about I just call you Delta?" He nodded slowly. "Delta… I know that's my name…" She nodded and stood up straight. The moonlight shone behind her, giving her the impression of an angel. Delta stared at her for a bit before realizing that she has offered her hand to him to help him up. He blushed and took her hand, getting up. His legs shook a little, not used to being up after being knocked out for awhile. He looked back down at where he was laying. Something shined at him from the leaves and he picked it up. He felt the small object in his hands. "What's that?" The girl asked him. "A shuriken." He turned it in his hand. A small message was engraved on the back. "I can't read this…" She looked the shuriken and held out her hand. "Maybe I can." He gave it to her, and she looked at it for a moment. "It says 'You'll need this more than I will. Remember who you are. Use this to protect yourself. - S'... Who's S?" Delta started at the Shuriken for a moment. He held out his hand. "Let me see it. I have an idea." She handed it to him, and he grabbed it. He stared at it for a minute and watched it disappear. "Delta? What just happened?" Delta stared at his hand for a minute. "I-I think I absorbed it…" The girl looked at him. "You're joking... " She shook her head before continuing. "Well, We can't leave you out here in the cold, now can we?" Delta immediately took notice of everyone else around him. A small white haired girl, a taller dark haired girl, and two guys. One blond, one darker haired. Delta looked around. "Why are you all here?" The dark haired girl smirked. "Well, Rias heard a scary noise so we followed her out here~!" The red haired girl rolled her eyes."That's not what happened Akeno, and you know it." Delta stared at the two girls. "Those are pretty names…" The girl named Akeno looked at him before smiling playfully. "Why thank you~!" Rias just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's get moving." The entire group began to move. Delta followed close behind, unsure of where they were going. He turned to the brown haired boy. " Where are we going?" The boy simply said "Back to the Academy. Omunibasu Academy." Delta stared at him for a minute before asking. "Why an Academy?" The boy didn't answer, but instead pointed. Delta turned to follow his finger and was taken aback by the extremely large building. It looked like a giant almost skyscraper. His newfound comrades simply started walking towards it. He panicked. "S-Shouldn't we wait until someone gives us the clear?" Rias replied, not even turning around. "We're fine, we live here." Delta paused in shock. "Y-You live here?" Akeno smiled sweetly at him. "Yup, and we can get you a room here and everything! You'll fit right in!" Delta followed them for a short time before they were all met with some guards. They spoke in loud voices. "State your name and business." Rias spoke coldly. "House of Gremory. And guest." The guards nodded and stepped aside. Delta was bewildered. "What was that all about?" "They're guards." The blonde haired boy spoke for the first time. "They're here to make sure nothing else happens here." "What do you mean, nothing else?" Before Delta could get a response, Rias cut him off. "That's enough, Kiba. He doesn't need to know everything." She turned to Delta. "Go find yourself a room. Just pick a dorm, it doesn't matter where. Just avoid that run down one over there." She pointed to a rugged looking building that had definitely seen better days. "That one hasn't been used since…" She shook her head. "Never mind that. Just go pick a dorm. I'll be by later to help you get acquainted." She motioned for everyone to follow her, leaving Delta alone. He looked to his left and picked the nearest building that he thought was a dorm. He entered, and to his relief, it was indeed a dorm. Boys and girls were sitting on couches, talking. _They must live here together…_ He pondered this for a moment before wandering down a hall. There was a small man with greying over combed hair. "So, are you the new one the Gremory house is talking about?" Delta was stunned. The news of his arrival must have spread quicker than he thought. "Yeah. That's me." The small man chuckled. "A'ight. This way. Rias has requested a special room for you." Delta followed him to a room at the far end of the hall. The man pushed a button and they stepped inside. It seemed to be an elevator. Delta looked around confused. "I didn't know there was an elevator inside school buildings." The man nodded. "Yep. Lots of stuff has been put in since the I.S.F. came here and rounded everyone up." He pushed a button before continuing. "They came to each of our schools and said that everyone need to be in one place. Personally, I think they're plotting something. Dunno what. It ain't good though, I can tell ya that. They got armed guards and weird super soldiers. Not too fond of 'em." Delta looked at him. "Did they say why they were rounding everyone up?" The man thought for a moment. "Y'know, I think they did. Something 'bout a temporal anomaly. Dunno what that is." Delta thought for a moment before speaking. "I think it has to do with time and space? I'm not sure…" Delta thought for a moment and spaced off. He shook his head and said "I'm not sure it's that important anyway. If it is, well…" The elevator door opened and they stepped outside. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough…"


	2. Chapter 1: Enrollment

Chapter 1: Enrollment

Location: Omunibasu Acadamy: Delta's Dorm Room

Unit: Delta

Time: Late Evening

Date: Unknown

Delta stared at the piece of paper Rias had presented him with. He looked back up at the scarlet haired woman, and then looked down, then back up. He looked confused. "You want me to do what?" Rias smirked. "You heard me. I want you enroll here and go to school here. I'm not sure why, but I feel like somehow your arrival and this whole… ordeal that has been happening could be connected." Delta looked down at the paper, contemplating it. "And what if I don't?" Rias answered coldly, "Then I'm sure you could find somewhere to sleep outside in the forbidden woods." Delta paused. "The forbidden woods? Is that where we met?" Rias smiled, almost evilly. "Yep. That's it." Delta looked down at the paper before signing it. "Alright. You win. I'll attend school here. If nothing else, I should at least TRY to blend in." Rias smiled and took the paper. "I knew you'd see it my way eventually." Delta stared at Rias for a moment. _Was… Was that a wink?_ Delta shook his head of his doubt and stood up. "I suppose I should meet my dorm mates… Right?" Rias nodded. "It'd be rude if you didn't. I'll introduce you, if you'd like." Delta looked down. "Uh… S-Sure. I don't mind if you don't." Rias nodded and walked towards the door. "I'll gather everybody. Try to make yourself presentable, alright?" Delta looked up to retort, but she was gone. He stood up. He may as well clean himself up.

Location: Unknown

Unit: Shadow

Time: Unknown

Date: Month 9, Day 3

I watched the doctor work relentlessly. Almost fearfully. I watched from the shadows, as is my preferred way of doing things. The doctor was panicked. He began to talk to himself. "I-I have to hurry… if these things aren't done by the time he gets here…." It was then that I heard his voice for the first time. It sent chills down my spine. I knew the doctor had a higher up he wouldn't tell us about, but I didn't know that it was… this creature. I couldn't begin to describe it. It spoke, its very words freezing me in fear. " **So. Have you completed the research, Doctor?"** The doctor spoke, fearfully. "N-Not quite, master. I have but a little bit left to do, and the data Project Gemini and Project Shadow recovered greatly increased my workload… P-Please sit, I won't be but a moment." The creature sat on the chair, it's eyes glowing in anger. " **I told you to have it done by the time I returned. Where. is. it?"** The doctor began to panic more. "T-That's the thing, M-Master… I kind of… lost… it…" It's eyes flared. " **You did what? It almost sounded like you let it escape."** The doctor shrunk back. "W-Well… Projects Gemini and Shadow recovered the data from the defective… and we got most of the data back from what they stole…" It glared at the doctor before slowly speaking. " **Most of it? Not ALL of it?"** The doctor began shaking in fear. "N-No sir… B-But I got most of it!" Its eyes died down. " **You disappoint me, Doctor. I had taken you for a no nonsense kind of man… Especially after your son failed to destroy the Unfinished Demon, which is a shame, because I could have used him for something greater… Oh well… As for you, Doctor…"** The doctor grew tense. " **Disappoint me again, and I'll enroll you in my list. Understood?"** He nodded quickly. "Y-Yes sir!" The creature disappeared, and I stepped out from the shadows. Now is the time. I have to warn the others.

Location: Omunibasu Academy: Common Room

Unit: Delta

Time: Evening

Date: Month 9, Day 3

"... And with that, I hope you will welcome our newest student, Delta!" The room politely applauded Rias, and erupted into real applause when she glared at all of them. Delta looked about nervously before getting up and bowing politely. Everyone dispersed and went back to their normal routine. Rias looked him and said "I'd like you to follow me, if you're not busy." "I'm not busy, I can follow you." Rias nodded and walked out the door to the outside, Delta following close behind. They soon came to a run down looking building, which Rias opened the door to. "In here." Delta entered the building and Rias followed, closing the door behind them. She walked down the hallway, and Delta followed her yet again. The building creaked with each step they took, and Delta thought they were gonna fall through the floor once. They came to a hallway with plenty of doors to choose from, plus one at the very end of the hallway. Rias pointed to the one at the very end of the hallway. "That's where we're going." They continued down the hallway before Rias abruptly stopped. "You go on without me. I have… Something to attend to." "Alright, sure thing. I'll catch up with you later?" Rias stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Sure. I'll see you later. I'll be in there in a minute, I've got some things to do." Delta nodded and walked towards the door, opening it and stepping inside. The room was dark. Hushed voices swept the darkness. He picked up a few here and there that almost sounded familiar. "Is this the new guy Rias talked about?" "I think so, he looks kinda beat up." "I think it makes him look cute~." Delta was quiet for a while before speaking. "Is there a light switch around here?" A male voice rang out. It almost sounded puny, but in a nice way. It put Delta at ease. "You must still be in the fog. Step forward a little more, you should be out of it." Delta followed his instructions and the room was suddenly clear to him. It was filled with an assortment of guys and girls. There was a weird guy to girl ratio. Lots of girls. They all seemed to be grouped by uniform. Delta suddenly felt self-conscious of his own uniform, which wasn't really anything except a T-shirt and some shorts. "Wish I'd known this was formal, would have put on something nice." He heard Rias laugh behind him. "Trust me, nothing about this is formal. We're all friends here." Delta looked around the room and noticed some of the girls glaring at each other. _All friends here, my ass._ Delta stopped. _Where did that come from?_ Delta shook his head. "So, why are we here?" "It's quite simple, Delta." A voice came from behind a desk. Delta hadn't noticed it when he entered the room. The chair spun around menacingly to face him. Delta tensed up. "Y-You…?" The figure stood up and stepped out from the shadows. "Nice to see you again, Delta. Or, do you still go by Project Delta ?"


	3. Chapter 2: A Father's Failure

Chapter 2: A Father's Failure (or, Memory of a Failed Experiment)

Location: Unknown

Unit: Unknown

Time: Past

Date: N/A

A lone figure walked down a hallway in front of a series of capsules, their contents unknown. He stopped in front of a machine that seems to have a bunch of wires and tubes feeding into it. Whatever it was enclosed here was close to death, but being kept alive. A creature growled from within, and the figure tensed up. "No, stay there. Your time will come when the master commands it." The growls subsided. The figure continued to walk along the hallway, passing several capsules with monsters contained within. Two of the capsules had been shattered. He sighed. "They must be off doing their thing again. The master won't be pleased… Oh, I'll give them a few more minutes." From the shadows, two figures smiled, watching the figure continue on. They lingered for a moment before disappearing. The figure stopped, showed a small, sad smile, and kept walking. "Projects Delta and Theta. They're almost inseparable. I just hope that the master approves of them…" A screech sounded and echoed through the lab. "Project Beta! Silence!" The screech quieted. He shook his head before continuing. He reached the end of the hallway and stood before a door. He opened it and stepped inside. It was dark. The ground, the walls, even the very air seemed to pulsate with a kind of evil one can hope to never have nightmares about. Yet here he was. Standing in the middle of it. He stood before a creature with no body. No face. No limbs. It was a giant creature, and it seemed to be infused with the very walls and air itself. A haunting image of a red face would appear momentarily before disappearing and discombobulating into other shapes, never resting. "Soon." He whispered. "Soon you will come to light." A pained moan echoed. "No, I have already given you everything, you even…" He looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood. "You took my son, you monster. Soon, you will be destroyed." The moan turned to what sounded like a distorted chuckle." The figure quickly ran out of the room, panting against the closed door. He looked at his hands again. They were clean. "The womb of the devil… Is this what true fear is…?" He shook his head before walking away. He had other experiments to attend to.

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Private Clubroom

Unit: Delta

Time: Late Evening

Date: Month 9, Day 3

"My name is Delta. That is all. I'm not a project. I'm a person." "The figure behind the desk smirked. "Is that so? Because I remember you running around with another project. What was her name… Project Theta, was it?" Delta's eyes narrowed. Rias spoke up. "You asked him here for a reason, Azazel, don't belittle him." The man held up his hands. "Right, right. Well, Delta, you might be wondering how I know your name. Or, better yet, who all these people are and what happened to them. Well, I suppose I'll let them tell you. After all, they can tell their stories better than I can. Why don't we start with… You, wimpy boy surrounded by the monster girls." A brown haired boy in the middle of a bunch girls wearing the same uniform as him stood up. "Y-Yes sir." He turned to Delta. "Well… Uh… I-I'm Tskune. I, uh… I was the only human at a school full of monsters. The girls around me are my friends. We were all part of the newspaper club before… Before it happened." Delta looked at him curiously. "Before what happened?" Tskune was quiet for a moment. "... The Genocide. There hasn't been a mass killing of Monsters since the war... We… We were the only survivors." A pink haired girl began to tear up, and a blue haired girl looked down. A small girl in a witch hat spoke up. "I-I'm Yukati. I was… I was barely saved… The thing… It was scary…" A purple haired girl finally spoke. "We barely got out of there. After they left, Yokai Academy was… It was so dusty… It was awful…" Delta stopped her. "Dusty? What do you mean?" The blue haired girl spoke softly. "When a monster dies… They turn to dust. The same is true for monster-human hybrids, like us." Delta nods. "What about you?" He motioned to the pink haired girl. "What's your story?" She looked up slowly and spoke slowly and clearly. "I was the one who killed the demon. I watched it slaughter my friends… I couldn't let it go unpunished." Delta looked at the others. "Oooookay. What are your names then?" The purple haired girl went first. Followed by the blue haired girl and the pink haired girl. "Mizure." "Kurumu." "Moka." Delta nodded. "Nice to meet you all. I hope we can be friends." Kutamu gave a small smile. "It'd be nice to have a friend again." Delta smiled back and then got serious, as if remembering something. "Can you remember what the 'demon' looked like?" Moka nodded. "Clear as day. There were multiple of them… The one I fought looked like… Well, Tskune. But it wasn't him. This thing, it was… Evil. Inhuman, even, as if its actions were just part of a hive mind or something like that. When we escaped… I saw it get back up and start summoning other copies of us, all radiating with the same evil." Delta began to speak, but was interrupted when the door suddenly flew open and a man in some kind of ninja gear stood in the doorway. With no hesitation, he spoke to Azazel. "We've found the faceless one within the forest." Azazel stood, fully giving the man his attention. "Are you sure? You said the attack wasn't supposed to be until later." "That's what I thought, but I guess the doctor's in a panic since he didn't get all the data back… Long story short, the Boss is pissed, and the doctor is trying to get back into the good graces. We've got to move fast to keep everyone safe." Azazel nodded. "Alright, meeting's over. Get to your dorm and stay there. Go in groups, do not go anywhere alone. You know the drill by now. If you can't get to your dorm, get to the nearest one. Now move, go!" The students scurried with a panicked calm like they had done this before. Delta followed Rias, asking her questions. "Who was that guy? How did he know my name? Who's the faceless one? Who was the other guy that came in?" Rias was slow to answer. "I'll explain later. Just get to your dorm. Please. Be safe." Delta stared at her as she ran off. "I just hope she makes it back okay." Delta looked into the forest. An owl hooted overhead. Delta was uncomfortable just looking at the forest, but he couldn't look away. It's almost like something was calling him there. Delta, unsure if this was the right thing to do, began to walk towards the forest. He stopped. There was a scream, and it came from within the forest. With no one else around, he had no other option. He ran into the forest, to discover who screamed… And more importantly, why.


	4. Chapter 3: Delta and the Unknown Ninja

Chapter 3: Delta and the Unknown Ninja

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Foreboding Forest

Unit: Delta

Time: Early Night

Date: Month 9 Day 3

Delta ran through the dense forest, crunching leaves as he went. He had an idea of where the scream came from, but he wasn't entirely sure of the exact place. He kept running, not sure if he wanted to hear another scream or not. The trees all looked the same. The crunches of the leaves sounded like gunshots. Wait, those _were_ gunshots. Delta stopped to listen. Yes. They were indeed gunshots. Delta made his way towards the gunshots. They stopped. Delta, panicked that something worse had happened, ran faster towards the now stopped sound of gunshots. When he finally arrived at the source, he found two guards, laying face down, their rifles out to the side. Delta began to check their pulses and was relieved when he found them on both guards. He stood up and looked around. He didn't recognize this part of the forest at all. He was about to take another step when a large shuriken struck the ground where he was about to step. It was then that the man clad in ninja gear dropped from the trees. "You're a fool to come here, project Delta. You have two options. Return with me to the Academy peacefully… Or I will take you by force." Delta's body seemed to react to the man's presence, tensing up, and almost wanting to burst out of his skin. Instinctively, he took a fighting stance and was prepared to fight, when a bright light flashed from his hand repeatedly. Delta stared and was amazed when a shuriken of his own appeared in his hand. The man smirked and got into a fighting stance of his own. "Seems like you're remembering how to use your copy core. Now, enough talk! You're coming with me!" The man threw another shuriken, this time directly at Delta, but he jumped to the side and avoided it, throwing his own shuriken. His weapon landed a hit, and another shuriken appeared in his hand. Curious, he began to keep throwing shurikens at the mysterious man. The man, wising up now, began to dodge the shurikens thrown at him, and throw some of his own. Delta sidestepped the shurikens, returning fire. The battle raged on, each side taking turns firing and dodging. Suddenly, the man stopped fighting. Delta paused as well. "What's the issue?" "Did you not hear that?" Delta paused before he heard it. Rustling. The crunching of leaves. The man's eyes widened in fear. "He's here. You need to run. Get out of here, now!" Delta looked around for the source. "Get away from what exactly?" The crunching and rustling grew louder. "Project Alpha. You won't be able to do anything yet, just run! I'll meet you back at the Academy!" Delta felt a crippling chill run up his spine. The rustling had stopped. He felt a presence behind him. The man grew wide eyed and took off into the woods. Delta knew he didn't have to worry. The true threat was behind him. He didn't even turn around to face his foe. He ran. The strangest sense of Deja Vu washed over him as he ran. The footsteps behind him were growing closer. He kept running. He ran until his lungs felt like they were on fire, and his feet about to explode, and even then he ran. He stole a glance behind him and saw his pursuer. He recognized him almost instantly. White faceless head, almost like a mask, tall, slim stature, business apparel, and six spider like tendrils coming from his back. Project Alpha. The oldest of the living weapons projects. Designed to be able to rip his prey apart with his tendrils, and able to steal someone's soul just by having the person look at them. And said project was headed straight for him. Delta tore his gaze from Project Alpha, getting rid of the white dots that had clouded his peripheral vision, and continued running. Delta ran, jumped, ducked, and slid through the forest, narrowly avoiding branches and other obstacles. He did not dare turn around, he knew that Alpha would be right behind him. Finally, he came into a clearing. He looked around quickly. He didn't see Alpha, but he knew that he'd be back soon enough. He attempted to look for the Academy, but to no avail. He was lost. He gave the clearing another look and found something on the ground. He picked it up, and was greeted by a harshly scrawled picture of project Alpha. He stared at it for a bit before heading off into the woods again. He knew what he had to do.

Information Unknown.

Visibility is Zero.

"So, Project Alpha has a self destruct mechanism of sorts?" "Sort of. In order for Project Alpha to come to be, I had to instill fear of a creature that doesn't exist. In children, specifically. Once they started to give me what they thought of him, I took those papers and extracted the fear to make a living being. Essentially, I've made a physical embodiment of fear. Well, one of them, anyway. I repurposed that fear to make other creatures as well." "So how would one destroy Project Alpha, should he disobey orders?" "That's an oddly specific question, but to put it simply, if you can repurpose the papers into a weapon, you could destroy him. Either that or burn the papers." "Multiple ways of destruction seems a bit excessive." "I wanted to make sure I had multiple fail safes." "What about the other creatures? Would they be affected?" "No, they have separate fear frequencies, if you will. The destruction of one will not affect the others." "Good. We'll need all of them for the plan to work."

Location: Deep Forest

Unit: Delta

Time: Dead of Night

Date: Unknown

The leaves rustled and crinkled as Delta sped over them, looking for the papers. He found a couple here and there. One on a tree, one inside an abandoned shack, various places. He had five in total. He felt the presence of Project Alpha growing steadily closer. He needed to move quickly. He seemed to feel a slimy object creep upon his shoulder, and he whipped around to face Alpha, but he found nothing. Ahead in the forest, he heard a scream, much closer now. Identical to the one he heard before. He sped ahead, knowing that if he moved quickly, he might be able to catch the screaming person before he lost the source of the sound again. He pushed past some branches, and into a clearing, which was empty. He cursed, and gave the clearing another look. Yep. Empty. He looked up into the sky. Nothing to see. Except for the moon. He turned around and saw a dark opening. Almost beckoning to him. He sighed. He somehow knew that the scream came from the dark opening. He pushed past some branches and stepped through.

He came upon another clearing, and he saw it before he stepped into it. He looked into it, seeing a girl with purple looking hair. She looked panicked and frightened. She held something, and Delta moved a little bit closer to get a better look. Papers. Two of them. He stepped into the clearing, not sure of how to approach this. He figured out a way rather quickly when he stepped on a branch accidentally. He froze. The girl whipped around so fast Delta was concerned that she might have whiplash. She stared at him. He stared at her. This went on for several minutes. Delta finally broke the silence. "Are you okay?" She nodded slowly, unsure of how to respond to him. She must not have seen people in forever, because either that or… "Have you seen a tall faceless ma-" "Yes, I've seen him. He's been following me ever since I've found these…" She showed him the papers. "He does tend to guard those with his very existence, since it's the key to destroying him." She opened her eyes wide. "W-We can defeat it?" He nodded. "Yes, but only once we have all the papers. I'm not sure how many there are, so don't ask." She nodded slowly, then opened her eyes wide in fear. She opened her mouth, possibly to scream, but the sound never came out. Delta stared at her before quickly realizing something dreadful. She wasn't staring at him. She was staring _behind_ him. After realizing that fact, he didn't even need to look behind him. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her with him into the woods, running as fast as he could. The girl was tripping over herself. He hair was a mess, and her eyes were wild with fear. She gripped the pages tightly in one hand and held onto Delta's hand with her other hand, fearfully attempting to keep up. Somehow, Delta was dodging branches and trees entirely, almost with superhuman speed and reflexes. He managed to make it to a clearing, with a tree in the middle. A tree stump, really. With a single paper on top of it. Delta stopped in his tracks, making the girl crash into him accidentally. He turned to her sheepishly. "Sorry. Good news, we've lost him for now. Bad news, we've found another paper." He picked it up. "That's eight in total, right?" She nodded and handed him her two papers. "For safekeeping." Delta nodded and accepted the papers. Upon adding the two papers to his own six, they began to glow. Delta stared at them. "I think we've found our way of beating him."


	5. Chapter 4: Ayaka and Model D

Chapter 4: Ayaka and Model D

Location: Deep Forest: Campsite

Unit: Delta

Time: Dead of Night

Date: Unknown

Delta and his new friend huddled around a campfire that was burning bright. Delta started the fire not too long ago, and he knew it would keep them warm in case they needed to stay out in the woods overnight. As a last resort of course. Delta stared at the girl. She wasn't ugly. Far from it. She had a beautiful figure, one that guys would go crazy for. Her purple hair was a mess, but he assumed she had been out here for longer than he had. It was short, but it looked nice. She huddled closer to the fire, hugging her knees to her chest. Delta looked up at the night sky. "He should be afraid of us now. I'm sure he knows that we have all eight papers." He clutched the papers tight. "And if he doesn't, he will soon." Delta stared into the campfire. He could almost see the facelessness of Project Alpha staring back at him. He stood up, looked at his new friend, and spoke. "I'm gonna go get more firewood. Are you gonna be okay by yourself?" She looked down. "I don't know. The woods are somehow more scary with the fire." He chuckled lightly. "I understand. You can come with me if you want, but you'll probably be safer by the fire. After all, I'm taking these with me." He held up the papers. "Once I figure out what to do with these, we'll make our way back to the academy. You'll be safe there." She perked up at that. "A-Academy? Omnibasu Academy?" Delta stared at her. "You know it? It's where Rias took me after she found me." Now it was the girl's turn to stare. "Found you where?" "The forest. Why do you ask?" The girl stared in almost horror. "N-No reason! Just curious!" Delta looked at her before moving on. "Anyway. Are you wanting to come with me or not?" She stared at the fire. "I-I'll come with you." Delta nodded and smiled at her. "Come along then." The pair went into the forest to look for firewood. It didn't take long. They soon came back to the campsite with their firewood. There was only one problem. The fire was out. Delta stared at where the fire was. "That was burning bright not too long ago. Someone's been here." The girl trembled fearfully. "Some _one_ or some _thing_?" Delta looked around. "I don't know. Let me get the fire started again." In almost no time at all, the fire was up and roaring. As it should have been. Delta kept having the returning feeling of being watched. He was attempted to look for anyone who might be watching, but found no one. He didn't want to alarm the girl, as any more shock might completely break her mind. It wasn't long before he noticed her start to drift off to sleep. Bobbing her head, fighting to stay awake. "Hey. You can sleep if you want. I'll keep watch." She looked at him, and, with reluctance, laid down on the cool grass and leaves. "Thank you… Wake me if you need me to keep watch, okay?" He nodded. "I will. Thank you." She rolled over and Delta went back to pondering how to fight Project Alpha when she spoke again. "Ayaka." He looked at her. "Pardon?" She rolled over to face him. "My name. It's Ayaka. I figured if you're gonna watch over me, you should at least know who I am. That way we won't be total strangers." He smiled a little. "Alright. I'm Delta." He stuck out his hand and she gently shook it before rolling back over. Delta stared into the fire. It was going to be a long night.

Delta woke up a short time later, and quickly realized the fire was out. He shivered. He looked for Ayaka in the dark. "Ayaka? Are you here? Please, wake up." There was silence. Either she was a heavy sleeper or… Delta shook his head of the thought, and began feeling around in the dark for her. He looked up at where the moon should have been. There were clouds in front of it, blocking all light. "Ayaka? Please say something, anything?" Delta's voice echoed in the emptiness. He stood up, fully panicked. "Ayaka?!" He heard a rustling in some branches, and he turned towards them. "Ayaka?" "Well, uh, not quite." He heard some branches part, and he made out a dark floating object. "I take it you're Delta?" Delta stared at the object. "Uh, I don't know if I should tell you that." The object floated ominously. "Relax, I'm actually a part of you that was separated." Delta was taken aback. "P-Part of me? What do you mean?" The objected sighed and lowered closer to the ground, then raised back up. "Look, I'd love to explain it to you, but right now you've got a friend in danger, and right now you're not exactly in any condition to fight." Delta grew more and more confused. "What are you even talking about?" "Look, just hold out your hand." Delta reluctantly held out his hand, shaking a little bit. The object floated towards him quickly, enveloping his hand. He felt cold metal upon his hand, and it quickly crept up his arm and onto the rest of his body. Delta began panicking again until he heard the object's voice again. "Hey, relax, it's me. You're not in any danger. Well, I mean, you are, but not from me. I used to be a part of you, so eventually all the functions should be restored soon." Delta spoke aloud, not sure of what else to do. "What do you mean, a part of me? What are you?!" "Well, by myself I'm nothing, so just call me Model D. Basically, I was made to sort of act a secondary weapons set. Quick, pick up the papers. Project Alpha is headed North, and he's got Ayaka with him." Delta nodded and began to head North.

"So, if you're a part of me, can you at least explain how?" "I'll try my best, but I'm not the best explainer, and I don't have a lot of time left." "What do you mean?" "Well, since we're technically the same being, eventually we'll meld into the same consciousness. While I'm conscious though, I'll try to explain it the best I can. I'm sure you know that you're Project Delta. Well, you were a part of a group known as the Living Weapons Project, or LWP for short. Basically, there was a doctor who's life was spared from one of the Demon Lords and he made the Demon Lord a bunch of powerful minions. You… You were supposed to be one of those minions, but the doctor kinda kerfuffled on your programming and you were able to have morals and emotions and such." "Programming? So I'm a robot?" "Nope. Flesh and Blood. However, he made an artificial brain of flesh and blood and made a personality and put it inside you. Keep in mind that he also had the help of demons, so it's not entirely made by science. Anyway, you were to be the greatest of the projects. You had a little bit of every single project within you, allowing you to be the ultimate killing machine. Except you weren't, and, long story short, the big boss didn't take too kindly to you. So, he was to have you eliminated and rebuilt, but they put me in you, they used it as a power suppressor until you needed to use it. Well, to start the procedure of eliminating you, they took me out of you. That was a mistake, as it turns out, and you sort of exploded that part of the laboratory and made your great escape. I didn't see much after that, I just sorta floated around the forest until I found you. Thing is, before you ask, I knew about Ayaka already because the closer I got to you, the more powerful your memories became. My memories won't be transferred to you, but they'll be backed up in me. Sorta like extra storage. The only problem is, you don't have your demon powers anymore. Heck, the only reason you can see right now is actually because of the suit you're wearing, which I've given to you. Anyway, in order for you to regain your demon powers, you'll have to beat the other projects, and I'm warning you now, you're coming up on Project Alpha at an alarmingly increasing rate, and I'm not gonna lie, the odds of you winning this fight is approximately 3,720 to one. Long story short, you may not win this fight, but somehow I know you can do it. Listen. My powers may not be the greatest, but you've got both a ranged and melee weapon. Take a look." Delta looked down to see that his right arm had been turned into some kind of plasma gun. His left hand held a small capsule that, when the button was pushed, a green beam of plasma shot out and stayed there, almost like a sword. Delta spoke for the first time since setting off. "How close are we to Project Alpha?" "Decently close, what's your plan?" Delta looked at the papers that he held with his left hand as well as his sword. His hand began to glow, as did the papers until, one by one, the papers disappeared. He heard the voice one last time before stepping into the clearing. "Well, that not what I expected, but I suppose that could be repurposing them into a weapon."


	6. Chapter 5: The Faceless Foe

Chapter Five: The Faceless Foe

Location: Deep Forest: Big Clearing

Unit: Delta

Time: Dead of Night

Date: Unknown

Delta stepped into the clearing and saw Ayaka laying on the ground, not moving. "AYAKA!" He rushed to her side and checked her vital signs. She was still breathing. Probably fainted from the shock of being kidnapped by Project Alpha. Delta looked around the clearing, but didn't see his foe anywhere. Ayaka coughed, and Delta brought his attention back to her. She coughed again and opened her eyes before looking up at him. "D-Delta?" He smiled. "Yup. Glad to see you're okay." She smiled weakly. "I wish I felt as okay as I looked." She attempted to get up, but fell to a laying down position. Delta helped her up, putting her arm on his shoulders. "Come on, I've got you." They began to exit the clearing, but something stood in their path. Ayaka's eyes went wide. "D-Delta…" Delta simply nodded. "I know." He stared Project Alpha in the face, which was a feat within itself, given the fact Project Alpha didn't have a face, and felt no fear. He knew what was approaching was a battle, and he wasn't going to back down. He set Ayaka down gently near some trees. "If anything happens to me, I want you to run, okay? Don't look back. Just run." Ayaka nodded solemnly, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Please don't die." He laughed halfheartedly. "Well, I can't say it's very high on my to-do list, but I'll keep it in mind." He stood up and walked back to the middle of the clearing, drawing his beam saber. "Project Alpha. You've given me the decency of allowing me to console my friend. For that, I respect you. However. You have committed crimes and sins that cannot be atoned for." Project Alpha's tendrils appeared from his back, and they looked sharpened at the tips. Almost like snakes, poised and ready to strike. Delta got into a defensive stand, holding his sword hilt upwards, the sword going across his body. "The punishment for these sins is death. Now. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." A lone tendril shot out at Delta, but he easily parried it. They stared each other down. "Guess we're doing this the hard way."

Location: Omnibasu Academy

Unit: Shadow

Time: Dead of Night

Date: Month 9, Day 4

I stepped into the dimly lit room. A figure sat in a swivel chair across from me. He spoke coldly. "Delta never returned to his dorm, did he?" I shook my head. "No. I saw him in the Foreboding Forest a few hours ago. I attempted to take him back to the Academy, but our battle was interrupted." The figure nodded. "So. Currently we have a defective Living Weapons Project being hunted by Project Alpha. Correct?" I winced. The director always had a way of making seem things worse than they actually were. "Well… Yeah. I suppose so." He sighed. I hated it when he did that. It always meant that he was about to send me out to clean up the mess. Granted, I did sort of have this one coming. "So. When do you think you're gonna lead the rebellion?" That question took me aback. "With any luck, the other projects that stand with me will just accept leaving quietly and escaping. Once we do that, we'll be able to fight openly. Why do you ask?" The director lowered his head. "I fear that with the boy Rias has brought, things are going to get much harder much faster." I nodded. "But we can't exactly tell her no. She's a part of the group that has actually managed to fight again these creatures and been able to hold their ground." The director nodded again. "I know that. If she sees something within this boy that the rest of us don't see, I'm not about to question her. Even so. Taking him in is basically inviting those creatures to our doorstep, and we can't exactly protect the students if they all attack at once. We're banking right now on him getting out of that forest alive. If he doesn't… I think that'll be it for us." I smirked. "So in a roundabout way you're saying he's our only hope?" The director stood up. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Location: Deep Forest: Big Clearing

Unit: Delta

Time: Dead of Night

Date: Unknown

"GYA!" Delta cried out in pain as a tendril whipped him across the back, opening a wound all down it. He growled. "Hitting me while my back is turned, huh? That's awfully cheap of you, Alpha!" He whipped around, bringing his blade in a slashing motion as he turned. Project Alpha simply teleported out of reach, going behind him and whipping him again. Delta cried out in pain again, stumbling forward. His breathing was heavy and ragged. He'd been hit several times. Ayaka looked on in horror as her hero, her savior, was struggling to stand. Delta swung his blade weakly at Project Alpha, but he didn't even try to dodge this time. He simply brushed the blade aside like it were a child's toy. He picked up Delta with his tendrils and slowly began to squeeze him. Delta was limp. He couldn't win. He looked down at the ground and saw his hand. He quickly remembered that his other hand was transformed into an arm cannon, and, quietly, he began to aim it at Project Alpha. Project Alpha was so fixated on squeezing his opponent to death that he didn't even notice the arm cannon until it had actually shot him in the head. He dropped Delta, clutching his face and making an ungodly screaming sound that incorporated every possible sound of anguish. Delta raised his arm cannon and fired again, and again, and again. He had just been close to death before, but now, he felt more determined than ever to put this monster in its place. He fired over, and over, and over, not letting up. Ayaka watched, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. He was fighting back, and he wasn't going down that easily. The screams continued, until Project Alpha was forced back into a tree. Delta rushed him then. Grabbing him by his neck and slamming him against the tree, and then into the ground. Project Alpha continued screaming the entire time this happened, slowly but surely getting quieter and quieter, until suddenly, the screams had stopped. Project Alpha flailed wildly, attempting any form of attack against Delta, but it was of no use. Delta put his foot on Project Alpha, and drove his beam saber into his chest. Project Alpha folded up for a moment, and then collapsed. Delta fired a couple more shots into his face, for good measure. He then picked himself up off Project Alpha, placed his hands upon him, and they both began to glow. The light became so bright that it illuminated the entire clearing like a beacon. When the glow subsided Delta and Ayaka were the only ones left in the clearing. Delta smiled at Ayaka, who smiled with a grin that can only be described as pure joy. Her smile left as quickly as it appeared, however, as Delta fell forward, the exhaustion of the battle finally overtaking him. Ayaka called for help, amidst the darkness, but nobody came. Ayaka called again for help in the darkness, and suddenly, a voice called out to her. "Hey, don't be afraid. I'm here to help you." A man clad in Ninja gear dropped seemingly from the sky. His purple eyes were comforting. He picked up Delta and helped Ayaka to her feet. "This way. We need to get him to the infirmary." Ayaka hesitated. "W-Who are you?" He smiled underneath his cloth. "Just call me Shadow. It's nice to meet you, although I wished it were under better circumstances."


	7. Chapter 6: Recovery

Chapter 6: Recovery

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Infirmary

Unit: Shadow

Time: Early Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 4

I stood outside the door, waiting for the medics to arrive and attend to the boy. The girl was mildly hurt, but not so badly hurt that she needed any physical treatment. Psychological, however… Well, I'm no therapist, but knowing how Project Alpha works, she's going to need some. Although… Seeing how she was more concerned over Delta gave me a little hope. Maybe by defeating Alpha, his effects were lost on those he once had control over. I smirked a little as the Director himself came around the corner, as well as the elite medics. The medics entered the room without so much as a hello. I scoffed underneath my gear. "Rude." The director gave me a smile. "Don't fret too much, friend. They're only focused on their job, remember?" I raised an eyebrow. "Even so. I do wish to talk to you about the two that were rescued." The director nodded. "Ah yes. Delta and Ayaka. A strange pair, no doubt." I shook my head. "It's not even that, Director. The mere fact that she was found in that forest means that she'd seen Project Alpha. That being said, Delta must have found her and they found the means to stop him. Which, by extension, means that if one of them has a failsafe…" I trailed off, but the director got the idea. "We may have a fighting chance. Do you think that Delta just knew Alpha's weakness by chance, or…?" I shook my head. "There's no way. Every Project knows the other's weakness. It's how I know the weaknesses of the others." The director nodded again. "At any rate, Shadow, you're going to have to hurry. Once word gets back to our enemy that Alpha was destroyed… " I nodded. Don't worry about it. We're going to move out soon. One other thing…" I turned to the door before continuing. "Keep an eye on Delta. I think that being who he is will make him a powerful ally… or a dangerous foe."

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Infirmary

Unit: Delta

Time: Afternoon

Date: Month 9, Day 4

Delta yawned and stretched as he awoke. He sat up in his bed before realizing that he was in some kind of hospital. He chided himself for not even being able to go one day without landing in the hospital before suddenly remembering the nights events. He attempted to stand up before almost screaming in pain and quickly realizing that standing up was not an option available at the moment. He laid back down, that even causing him pain. He stared at the ceiling. His everything hurt, like a dull ache. He heard a door open. He blinked. He turned his head towards the sound and saw the same man he had fought the night before. He attempted to prepare himself, but he simply lacked the strength. The man chuckled. "Relax. I'm not here for a fight." The man sat down in a chair, looking at Delta. "So, if you're not here for a fight, then why are you here?" The man stared at him before removing the cloth that covered his mouth. It now hung around his neck like a scarf. "For one, I'm here to congratulate you, and to ask if you remember anything. Although, judging by your reaction, you do remember our little spar." Delta spoke coldly. "What of it?" The man sighed. "I suppose I should give you my name. Name's Shadow. Project Shadow." Delta's eyes went wide. "Y-You're…" "That's right. A living weapons project. I'm a lot less, well, dangerous than you, but I'm not here for any reason other than to give you an idea of what's been going on." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Basically, we're sort of in the same boat. You, Me, and several others that are currently hiding out inside a laboratory created by a madman. The same madman that created you. He created several other projects, all dangerous. I believe that you had the pleasure of meeting Project Alpha, Codenamed 'Slender'. Each project had a code name. Like Alpha's. Mine was… Less creative." Delta snickered. "What, was it Shadowman or something stupid like that?" Shadow glared at him, and Delta busted up laughing. "Oh my God, it totally was Shadowman!" Shadow sent another glare at him, and Delta stopped laughing, chuckling a little. Shadowman began to speak. "Yes. It was Shadowman. That's not important though. What I'm here to talk about specifically is what you did to rid us of Alpha." Delta gave him a side eye. "You mean shot him a bunch until he stopped screaming?" Shadow shook his head and laughed. "No, besides that. You absorbed him, didn't you?" Delta looked back towards the ceiling. "What do you mean?" Shadow motioned to him. "Delta, you don't have to lie to me. You did it by instinct, right? You just knew what to do?" Delta nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so…" Shadow nodded. "Well, I'm not too worried about it. Just be on guard for any more attacks, ya got me?" Delta nodded. Shadow put his cloth back around his face and stood up. "Well. If I had to venture a guess I'd say you have a little bit of Project Alpha within you. Not sure what exactly, but absorbing things usually allows you some kind of upgrade or power. I'm not sure how that works. Not my forte. Anyway. I'll see you around. Get better soon, alright?" Delta nodded. "You've got , and Shadow?" He turned to look at him before smiling a little. "Thank you. For saving her." Shadow smiled underneath his mask. "You always did have a soft spot for the ladies, didn't you?" Delta blushed and Shadow laughed before stepping outside the room.

A short while after Shadow left, a knock was heard outside Delta's room. He gave them permission to enter and Ayaka entered the room. Followed by Rias and a couple other people Delta didn't recognize. He jokingly said "Welcome to my domain.", and got a smile out of Rias. Her expression soon turned cold once more. Ayaka was the first to speak between the four that entered. "A-Are you okay, Delta? You took a beating out there, and any normal person wouldn't have survived it…" Delta smiled at her concern and sat up in his bed. "I'm alright, don't worry Ayaka. It's nice to see you so concerned about me though." She blushed at his words and looked down. "W-Well, I-I…" Rias interrupted her. "That was incredibly stupid of you, you know that right? Disobeying a direct order from Azazel…" Delta looked at her and spoke coldly, almost detached. "Not sure if you remember, princess, but I never exactly was taking orders from anyone." Delta quickly brought his hand to his mouth, eyes wide. Everyone else was shocked as well. Delta quickly went to apologize, attempting to reason out what had happened, but he had no explanation. "I-I'm so sorry, Rias, I-I don't know what came over me… Please forgive me!" Rias looked at her companions behind her and then turned back to Delta. "Don't worry about it. It's just the stress of everything. Sorry, I shouldn't have opened with that. I was just worried about you." Rias hugged him, the softness of her body becoming apparent to Delta. "U-Uh, Rias? You're kinda hurting my everything." It was a lie. If anything, Rias soft body somehow numbed the pain, but he wasn't about to admit that. Rias stood up. "The doctors said you should be out of here by tonight, supposedly just in time for supper." Delta's stomach growled at that. He realized that he hadn't eaten anything since he arrived here. "I'd like that. Maybe we can actually get all the introductions out of the way now. Hopefully we won't be interrupted like last time." Ayaka looked down, and Delta noticed. "You okay? You can always come along with us, if you'd like." Ayaka looked up, her eyes sparkling. "R-Really? I'd love to!... Although…. I am worried about my friends… and my sister…" Delta looked at her. "Well, where did you see them last?" Ayaka looked at him with seriousness. "The night of the Stargazing festival. I went for a walk into the woods and ended up here… with that thing… and I probably wouldn't have lived had you not…" Delta raised a hand to stop her. "It's alright. Really. I'm just glad you're okay. Tell you what, when I'm at full strength, we'll go see if we can find your way back. Sound okay?" Ayaka nodded rapidly, her entire frame bouncing. "Yes! That'd be wonderful!"

Delta managed to pull himself out of bed a few minutes after they left and stretched his limbs. They were more sore from laying in bed than anything else. He had bandages wrapped all around his torso, mostly covering the wounds the battle last night gave him, but they were barely visible. He grabbed the edge of his bed, wincing. He knew that he probably shouldn't be walking, but it wasn't about to stop him from trying. He pushed off the edge of the bed, and grabbed onto the wall, opening the door and limping down the hallway.

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Cafeteria

Unit: Delta

Time: Early Evening

Date: Month 9, Day 4

The door to the cafeteria swung open quietly. There were very few people left here, as the evening meal hadn't started yet. A few students were talking, but no one he recognized. He sat at a table alone, and waited patiently for supper to start. A young and pretty looking lunch lady caught his eye, and she motioned for him to walk over there. Wincing, but not wanting to be rude, he stood up and did his best to not limp as he walked over there. He attempted to be as casual as possible. "What can I do for you?" She looked at him almost with admiration. "A-Amazing… I'd only heard about your adventure in the forest and you're already up and about! I never expected anyone to be so resilient!" Delta looked mildly surprised as she continued to ramble. "E-Even so, with the other projects on the loose I don't know how long this little school of ours will hold… Ahaha…." Delta smiled. "Thanks, but… who are you again?" She bowed her head apologetically. "I-I'm so sorry, I forget to introduce myself." She stood up, her emerald eyes shimmering. "I'm Monika, it's very nice to meet you!" She extended her hand and he shook it. "I'm Delta, but something tells me you already knew that, huh?" She blushed lightly. "Ahaha… Yeah…" Delta smiled. "Well. It's good to know I have a fan, at least." He said this jokingly, but she quickly recovered. "I-It's not just me! Lots of people have heard about how you slayed the mighty Project Alpha! You're a hero to everyone!" Delta looked around and suddenly felt very self conscious. "You think so? I just did what came naturally to me…" Monika laughed lightheartedly. "Well, if that's what's natural for you then I'm glad you're fighting for us and not against us!" Delta smiled, but it seemed almost forced. Monika didn't notice it though. Well, if she did, she didn't say anything. "Anyway, I've got to get back to work, I'll see you around!" She waved and went back to work, and Delta went and sat back down. Right about the time he sat down, Rias walked into the lunchroom, accompanied by Ayaka. Delta waved to them, and Ayaka's face lit up when she saw him. She rushed over to him and hugged him tightly before quickly releasing him when he ushered a small cry of pain. "S-Sorry! I just got really excited!" Delta smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't that bad. Anyway, come on, sit down. I think supper will be starting soon."

Nothing eventful happened during supper, and everyone began to go their separate ways for the evening. Rias pulled Delta aside and told him to meet her in the common room of last time. When he questioned her, she simply said: "We're just gonna introduce you to the rest of the group, so don't worry too much. They already like you because of what you've done for Ayaka, and more importantly, she'll be there as well." So here he stood outside the same door he was before. This time, however, it was a bit different. He wasn't going in completely unsure of what was going on. Somehow, it's almost like defeating Project Alpha makes approaching people easier. He went to open the door but stopped when he heard arguing. He heard two voices he recognized, and one voice he didn't recognize. One was Monika, the girl from earlier, and she… Didn't sound happy, to say the least. The other voice was Kurumu, and she sounded like she was almost ready to burst into tears. Delta didn't know why, but he felt like he should stay out of it for some reason. He'd had enough fights for a while, and he didn't want to go around picking them. Someone came up behind him and put a hand over his mouth and he quickly turned around to see Rias. She put a finger up to her lips and Delta nodded. They both pressed their ears to the door.

"I-I don't know why you're getting so worked up Monika, i-it was just a-" "Just what, Kurumu? Just you trying to seduce another guy that otherwise wouldn't even give you the time of day?" "N-No, i-it was just to thank him for-" "Ahaha, just to 'thank him' for destroying that demon in the forest, right? I'm sure that's all it was, and it wasn't any attempt to seduce him at alllll. Yeah, I'm not buying it." Delta and Rias heard sobbing, and then they heard a scream. Not of anger or pain, but one of sorrow. "I DIDN'T ASK TO BE A SUCCUBUS, OKAY?! I'M SORRY THAT I HAPPEN TO LOOK GOOD TO GUYS, I CAN'T HELP IT!" They heard footsteps approaching quickly, and Delta pulled Rias away from the door just as the door flung open and a girl ran out crying. Blue hair. It had to be Kurumu. Delta and Rias peeked out from their hiding spot. The group had expanded a little, but not much. Monika had joined the group. Azazel sat in his chair near the back of the room. He began to clap slowly. "Way to make a good first impression, Monika. Make someone else cry, why don't you?" Delta turned to Rias and with a curt "I'll be back. Don't let anyone kill each other." ran after Kurumu.


	8. Chapter 7: A Hero's Welcome

Chapter 7: A Hero's Welcome

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Hill of Fate

Unit: Delta

Time: Late Evening

Date: Month 9, Day 4

Kurumu sat sobbing at the top of the hill underneath the giant tree. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, and at the same time, she knew what she probably should do. The sun was still setting, and she wasn't sure on if she could go back to that room full of all those people and say that her intentions were pure. No one would believe her. That much was made clear by Monika. She heard a rustling in the bushes and turned around to see Delta standing there. He looked embarrassed that he had been seen. "You weren't supposed to turn around yet." He laughed a little and sat down next to her. "So, that was… something back there." She turned away from him."I don't want to talk about it. At all." Delta nodded and faced the sunset. "Sure is pretty, huh?" She looked towards the sunset. "I suppose so…" Delta looked at her. "You sure you're okay? It was pretty rough back there…" She looked down held her knees close to her chest, which wasn't exactly hard, given her chest size. "I've been better, I won't lie…" "Well, talk to me about it." She blushed, unsure of whether or not he was being serious. "Are you serious?" "Of course. I'm not gonna judge you. I don't know you well enough to judge you!" He laughed. "Jokes aside, I do care about you. You seem very nice. Heck, you seemed that way back when I met you before. Remember? You said that it'd be nice to have a friend again. So, let me be your friend." He said this seriously, and when he turned to Kurumu she had tears in her eyes. "Hey, you okay?" She didn't respond, instead opting to throttle hug him and sob into his chest. She was a lot stronger than she looked, and her hug was actually making it hard to breathe. He didn't say anything, and instead hugged her back and whispered that it would be okay. She sobbed for quite a while, and when she was done, the sun had set. She lifted herself off of him and wiped her eyes. They were red and puffy. "Thanks… I needed that." Delta smiled. "It's alright. Sometimes we need a good cry. Besides. I don't think she knows any better. So, who were you trying to 'seduce', anyway, Kurumu?" She blushed and looked away, but scooted a little closer to him and shivered. _Must be cold._ He thought as he put his arm around her. She blushed heavily. Well, he assumed so anyway, since all of a sudden she got really hot. "W-Well, I had originally made this for Tskune, but he didn't seem to want it… so I was gonna give to someone else to… thank them. They've made this place a little safer, and… well…" Delta looked at her. "I assume you mean me, and by making this place safer, you mean destroying Project Alpha, right?" "Y-Yes." He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, Kurumu. After all, if I didn't, someone else would have." She looked down and smiled. "I-I suppose so." He smiled and stood up. "Come on, let's head back. The others are waiting for us, I'm sure."

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Private Club room

Unit: Delta

Time: Early Night

Date: Month 9, Day 4

Delta and Kurumu entered club room and sat down, much to the dismay of several people. Neither of them said anything, but Azazel took care of that for them. "Well!" He said, clapping his hands. "I believe now that we're all here, we should officially introduce ourselves to Delta. Since, you know, we already know each other and all. So. Delta. Why not introduce yourself, officially?" Delta shrugged and stood up. "Alright. Well. You all know me by now. I'm Delta. Rias found me outside in a forest and now I'm here." Azazel clicked his tongue. "Ah, but you forget the most fun part! What about the part where you utterly destroyed Project Alpha?" Delta shrugged like it was no big deal. "I mean. Yeah, I did that too, but I didn't think it polite to brag." Azazel shook his head. "Alright, who wants to go next?" Ayaka's hand shot up and she stood up from her place on the couch. "I'm Ayaka! I lived at Vincennes which is also where I went to school before I… well, I guess I got lost and ended up in that forest. I-I honestly don't think I'd be standing here if not for... " She blushed at a little as she looked at Delta. "W-Well, you know." Azazel nodded. "You must have gotten pretty lost, girly. There's not another person around here for miles. Aside from us, anyway." Ayaka thought for a moment. "Well, there was this weird green door that I went through. In the middle of the forest." She rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "I suppose that may have been a red flag, huh?" Delta laughed a little. "You're figuring this out now?" She blushed a little and sat back down. "I was curious, that's all." Azazel nodded. "Anyone else want to go?" Rias stood up. "I suppose that even though you know me, you don't really KNOW that much about me. So, I suppose even more proper introductions are in order." She cleared her throat before continuing.

"You know me, slightly. I'm Rias. I'm the head of a house of Devils known as the House of Gremory. In our world, the easiest way I can explain it is that the Devils do battle using rankings similar to that of chess. Issei over there is my pawns. All of them." The brown hair boy nodded. "Yuto and Xenovia over there are my knights." The blond boy and a Blue haired girl nodded to Delta. "Asia and Gasper are my bishops." The blond haired girl and a silver haired person nodded to him. Delta looked confused at Gasper and he started to ask what gender Gasper was before Issei cut him off. "Boy. Trust me, I learned that the hard way." Now, Delta was even more confused, but before he could ask what "the hard way" meant, Rias had moved on. "Koneko and Rossweisse are my Rooks." Two girls in the far corner waved to him. Both had silver hair, and one had a pair of cat ears. They looked real. Delta didn't say anything. "You've met my queen already, Akeno." The flirty, dark haired girl from earlier waved at Delta seductively. He wasn't even sure how a wave could be seductive, but by god she did it. "And then there's me. The king piece. Long story short, we were here just before what we devils call a rating game. Among Devils, it's essentially like watching a boxing match where you've got two teams facing off against each other. We were pulled here before we could participate." Issei piped up. "Good thing too, that bastard was going to try to force you to marry him." Rias smirked. "I'm sure my knight in shining armor wouldn't have let that happen., right Issei?" Issei blushed and sat down, embarrassed. Delta could almost see the heat rising up from him. He turned to Monika. "So, What's your story?"

Monkia giggled nervously. "Ahaha… you see… I don't know… I don't remember anything before coming here." Delta saw her eyes flicker for a moment. She was lying. He knew it. He wasn't going to push it, however. He knew that if he did, he'd regret it. He looked around. He seemed to know who everyone was now. At least, most of them. Maybe not on a personal level, but he at least knew them. For some reason, looking around the room gave him a feeling he couldn't describe. Ayaka and Kurumu sat upon either side of him, both of them looking away from him.

He wasn't sure why. He looked at Azazel. "So, what do we usually do here, anyway?" Azazel laughed. "You're looking at it, buddy. This is basically a support group for people who have survived things like what you fought earlier. Hell, you actually defeated one of those things. You really ought to have a hero's welcome, but we've got nothing prepared." Monika perked up. "I can bake stuff! Maybe we can have a party tomorrow!" Azazel stood up and stretched. "Welp, if you guys are gonna party, I suppose I can see if I can let that happen. That being said, no alcohol. I don't care if you're demon, monster, or whatever. If I'm not allowed to drink, neither is anyone else. " Everyone laughed, and they began to plan out what they would bring, who would do what, and eventually, the meeting dispersed. Delta, not getting much rest outside of his coma, laid down and took a short nap.

Delta woke up from his nap on the couch in the room and walked alone back to his dorm, and as he entered the common room, it was surprisingly quiet. "That weird." He thought aloud. He walked around the room, looking for any sign as to where they had gone. He found nothing. Confused, he went to his room and started to lay down when something caught his eye. A shadow, specifically. It danced along the floor and slipped out the door as quickly as it had appeared. He grabbed a flashlight from his nightstand, which "everyone was provided with" Rias had told him, and began to give chase. He thought he had it cornered a few times, but it always seemed to elude him. He finally thought he had it cornered, but when he turned on the light to make it disappear, he was back in the common room. He scratched his head, confused. He had sworn that the shadow looked almost like a girl. Almost like...

The door opened unexpectedly, and the shadow caught his eye again. His suspicions were confirmed when he ran outside to follow it. The shadow knew that it was being followed, and more importantly, it wanted to be followed. The shadow stopped in front of the abandoned building Delta had been warned to not go into earlier by Rias. The shadow opened the door and stepped inside. Delta turned around, but something had caught him by the ankle. He looked down. It was a rope. He shrieked, and it began to pull on his shadow's leg. He fell, and it suddenly pulled on Delta's leg forcefully. Delta clutched at the ground helplessly, hoping for some blade of grass to prevent him from being pulled into the building. He panted desperately, grabbing at literally anything and everything to help him stay outside. He dug his fingers into the ground, leaving marks in the dirt like some kind of animal. He screamed for help, hoping someone, anyone, would hear his cries. Delta was ripped from the ground and forcefully pulled into the building, still screaming for help. The doors shut with a loud crash, drowning out any cries of help.

...But Nobody Came.


	9. Chapter 8: Rescue Mission?

Chapter 8: Rescue Mission?

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Dorm Hallway

Unit: Shadow

Time: Early Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Delta was a little late in getting to breakfast, so Shadow went to go get him up, and was amused to see that his dorm room has amassed an audience, but suddenly realized that the atmosphere was off. He approached the small crowd, which, in reality, only consisted of Ayaka, Monika, Rias, and Kurumu. "Is this where the line starts?" He attempted to make a joke, but Rias looked serious. "Delta hasn't opened his door, and we can't see anything from the outside. We've been out here for a while." Ayaka looked mildly annoyed. "I was here first…" Project Shadow shook his head. "Outta my way, I'll deal with it." He got down on both knees in front of the door and, with the skill of a ninja, picked the lock and opened the door. They all stepped inside and looked around. Kurumu spoke up. "He's not here, where is he?" The girls began to search the room, when all of a sudden, Shadow Man felt a drop of liquid hit his shoulder. He looked at his shoulder and saw that the liquid was… red? He looked up and said calmly. "Hey guys? Quick question." The all stopped searching and looked at him. "Do the words 'Beyond Darkness' scrawled in ceiling blood mean Delta's in trouble?" Rias rolled her eyes. "Did you write it?" Shadow Man looked at her and responded with a sarcastic. "Yes, I dragged a small animal in here, slaughtered it for fun, and then wrote words in that blood on the ceiling. All while you were searching the room." Everyone stared at one another before the girls' eyes widened in utter horror as they all slowly looked up. Ayaka was the first to react properly, and she did so by fainting. Monika and Rias screamed, and Kurumu just stared at the ceiling in absolute shock and terror. Shadow took control of the situation quickly. "Everyone outside, get to the common room, let's move!"

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Private Club room

Unit: Shadow

Time: Early Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Everyone that was in the room sat on one piece of furniture each. Azazel paced back and forth across the room. "This is very serious. We didn't detect any new projects or anything like that, so this was done by someone on the inside. Which is a serious accusation to make to someone, and if I'm not mistaken, I believe that Shadow has some work to prepare for?" Project Shadow nodded. "We move out early in the morning, and our group is growing larger by the minute. It wouldn't surprise me if we moved the entirety of the regular Projects by tomorrow. He won't be happy, and I'm not expecting an easy mission." Azazel laughed. "You never do, Shadow. Anyway, I think that for now, we need to wait until we have more evidence. That is, unless these lovely ladies wish to venture out and try to figure it out on their own?" Ayaka stood up, with Monika quickly following after. "I'll go." "As will I." Shadow shook his head. "As much as I would appreciate their help… It's too dangerous. Whatever the hell wrote that message and whatever took Delta... It's only one of two things…" Shadow trailed off, bowed a little, and left without another word.

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Delta woke up to a painful throbbing in his head, and his ankles and legs a little sore. He stood up, wincing a little, and looked around. He could make nothing out of the room before him. It looked like a standard dorm room. He thought he had just imagined everything, but then froze when a girlish giggle echoed throughout the room. Maybe the building. He wasn't sure. He quickly assessed his surroundings and, finding no clear source of the giggles, began to look for the door. It was dark, but the door handle gave off a faint gleam as he made his way to it. He opened the door to find more darkness. "How exciting. If I wasn't entirely sure that whatever dragged me here wasn't trying to kill me for whatever reason, I'd almost say 'screw it' and try to sleep on that bed behind me." He turned and looked at it. The longer he looked at it, the more appealing it got. Shaking his head, he stepped into the hallway, looking up and down the hallway. He sighed. Nothing was going to be easy, was it?

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Outside

Unit: Shadow

Time: Mid-Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 5

Shadow stood outside the run down looking dorm building. His cloak flowed in the wind. He stared at the building, flipping a shuriken between his fingers. Two more hooded and cloaked figures approached him, his back turned to them. "About time you two showed up. Given the claw marks made in the mud, I'd say he was dragged into here." One of the hooded figures spoke. "You think so? Could just be another animal." The other figure shook his head. "No, he's right. Look closely at how the grass is dug. They were dug in that direction, meaning he was facing away from the building, meaning he was pulled into it by something." Shadow turned to the two. "I hate to ask you guys about another mission, especially with Numbers two, four, and five still missing… But this guy has beaten Project Alpha, by himself. If he can do it single handedly, he'll be a valuable asset to the operation. So come on. Let's go get him. Hell, knowing him, he's probably wandering around trying to find his way out as we speak."

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

 _Thunk._ "I swear to whatever God exists if I run into another wall in this blasted darkness…" Delta rubbed his face, trying to ease the pain a little. He'd run into too many walls to count, and the girlish laughter kept switching around on him, turning him around in circles. As much as he'd like to draw his blade and his arm cannon and start blasting away, for nothing else than a little light, the building itself seemed to not allow him. Not like he hadn't tried. In vain, however, as he soon realized he'd be given no such grace. So, he continued stumbling around in the darkness, barely making progress. He tripped over a snag of carpet, not falling down entirely. He laughed triumphantly, and then took another step and fell flat on his face. Grumbling, he got up, re-initiating his stumble-walk forward. The girlish giggling was directly in front of him now, and he made his way towards it. He resolved to keep going forward, completely ignoring the giggling. That didn't seem to be a problem now, as the more he moved forward, the louder the laughter got. He finally passed through some kind of dense fog into a dimly lit room. He sighed. It wasn't much better, but beggars can't be choosers. He looked around. It looked like a version of the private club room he'd seen before, only this time, it was lit by candles. He friends sat around, seemingly as though they hadn't noticed him yet. They didn't move. They hadn't spoken a word since he entered. They just… stared. Not at him, mind you. He followed their eyes to see what they were fixated on. They all seemed to be staring at Monika. Who was laying down on the couch, her eyes closed. He was uneasy, and very uncomfortable. He felt like something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He looked around again. Yep. Everyone was definitely staring at Monika. They didn't seem angry. They just looked blankly at her. Even so, the stareing of his friends made him uneasy. He moved about the room, checking every nook and cranny, being sure to not touch any of the bodies. He didn't know what would happen if he did touch them, and he wasn't exactly about to find out.

 _Creak…_

All at once, Delta whipped around. He looked to see what had changed, and nothing seemed to change. He shrugged, and went back to searching through the drawers of the desk Azazel usually sat at. He got a chill up his spine. He looked up and found everyone exactly as they were, with everyone staring at Monika, and Monika staring at Azazel's desk. He went back to searching through the desk. He found a key within the desk, unsure of what he needed to do with it.

 _Creak…._

He looked up to find everyone how he left them. Everyone staring at Monika, and Monika standing in front of one of the couches. He shut the drawer before realizing exactly why he was getting repeated chills down his spine. He looked up in horror as Monika stood before him, a devilish grin plastered on her face. Her eyes were still closed, and Delta wasn't sure he wanted to see them opened. Everyone else was staring right at Monika, and so he kept an eye on Monika as he walked backwards towards the door. He quickly opened the door and turned around to step through it before hearing one more giggle. He turned around, unsure if he should have, but it was too late. Everyone was staring at Delta, the same devilish grin on Monika upon all of their faces. Their faces all matched, and Delta was having exactly none of that today. He whipped around to run out the door, but was stopped by what looked like Monika. It wasn't Monika, and he realized that as he slowly turned around and felt the growing horror upon him as everyone in the room stared at him with evil grins upon their faces. He shut his eyes as he heard their footsteps approach him in perfect unison, almost like an army marching upon an enemy. Except that "enemy" was Delta, and he was utterly defenseless as they approached.

Delta opened his eyes when he suddenly heard gunfire. He ducked down and attempted to locate the sound of the gunfire, which was scaring off his attackers. They screeched and screamed demonically before rushing off into the darkness behind the desk. He turned around to see Shadow and two other figures on either side of him. Shadow looked down at him. "Well, fancy seeing you here." He smiled and offered his hand, which Delta took and stood up. "Glad you're here, Shadow. Couple more seconds and…" He shook his head. "Well, I'd rather not think about that." Shadow chuckled. "I understand." Delta looked to the side of Shadow. "So… Uh… Who are your friends?" Shadow looked taken aback. "Oh my, where are my manners? Delta, these two are numbers One and Three. Number One, Number Three, this is Delta. Told you we'd find him here." The two figures removed their hoods. One had a blue helmet on, with a suit of armor not unlike Delta's. Three had a black helmet with a red outline, with messy blonde hair. Three nodded. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Three. My friends call me Axl!" Number One turned and looked behind him. "I'd give you pleasantries, but right now we've got bigger problems. Call me X." Delta nodded. "Right. So let's get go-" Delta froze up as he saw a flash of white in the darkness. It was large. It had hair in various places and it had red streaks along its body. Not blood, but closer to muscles. Its skin clung to its body, like it was a tight suit. Delta thought he saw the creature's spinal cord. Its fingers were long, like knives. Its eyes were black with white pupils. He stared into the darkness, trying to comprehend it all. "D-Did you guys see that thing?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "What thing?" Delta pointed. "That thing behind… you?" The creature wasn't there anymore. X nodded. "I saw it. We're gonna have company very soon…"

 _Thunk._

"I swear that the next person to step on my feet will be shot." "Sorry Delta, it's really hard to see in here." "Oh, don't worry Axl. It is pretty dark in luck with getting any light sources?" Shadow's voice rang out. "Not yet. I've been trying for a while and I've got nothing." Delta shuddered in the darkness. "Fine. These guys think that taking away our sight is gonna stop us well then that's just GREAT!" Delta shouted that last word, but as he did, a white circle appeared around him and grew larger. He could see the outlines of his friends, however imperfect, and the walls. He stopped and stared. "Did you guys see that?" "See what?" "That white circle…?" "Nope. Nothing. Sorry." Delta sighed. "Well, either way, I have an idea." He shouted again, recreating the white circle and walking a few paces forward. He repeated doing this until he came across what he figured was a crossroads. "Left, Right, or straight?" X spoke. "Shadow, you make decisions, I'm not comfortable with doing so." Axl nodded. "I agree. Shadow you do it." Shadow spoke for the first time since they left the fake clubroom. "Let's head left and follow the wall. Can't go wrong doing that." "Fair enough." Delta began to lead the group down the left hallway when something stopped him. "Uh, guys? Something you should know. When I speak, I see white circles. They bounce off the walls and allow me to get basic outlines." Axl spoke up from the darkness. "Alright but I don't see what that has to do wi-" "I just saw outlines like mine, but they were red." Everyone went silent. "Uh. I think that's the opposite of good." X sounded shakey. Shadow sounded sarcastic. "A little heavy handed with the symbolism, huh?" Axl was scared. "I don't care if it's heavy handed or not, if we have to avoid it, we're going the opposite direction." "Right. This way, gentlemen. Away from the badness that is the evil red circle." He said it jokingly, but there was an air of urgency to his voice. He directed them the exact opposite way. They ran for a bit, slowing down eventually. "Head count. Delta? "Here." "Axl?" "Here, boss." "Shadow?" "Right here." X sighed. "Good, we've got everyone. So, what's our plan now? Keep walking until we find something?" Delta sighed into the darkness. "Preeeeety much."

Location: Unknown

Unit: Unknown

Time: Mid - Morning

Date: Month 9, Day 4

"We should have gotten at least a call from him by now!" A figure that resembled a skeleton paced in front of nine other figures. "We're supposed to move out tonight, and take our brothers with us, but we can't get ahold of him and we don't know anything and we won't be able to know anything until he call us and I'm having a panic attack and I'm worried about him and-" A soft voice interrupted him. "Skull. It'll be okay. You worry too much about the little details. For now, we're gonna stick to the plan." The figure named Skull sighed. "I know, but it's almost like he's abandoning us. Don't you feel that way, Splash?" The figure shook her head. "We just have to trust Shadow. He's our leader, whether or not we admit it. So we've got to buck up and trust him. Even if he does this sometimes. We'll have to trust that he'll show up in time to help us out." "And if he doesn't?" "We'll have to stick to the plan. We'll be fine, Skull. You worry too much. It throws off your terrifying look." Skull rolled his eyes. "Fine. Alright everyone, let's try to get some rest. We'll need it."


	10. Chapter 9: The Empty Plains

Chapter Nine: The Empty Plains

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

The pitch black darkness was beginning to grow weary on everyone. "Alright." Axl spoke up. "I'll say it. Wandering around while echolocation boy up there tells us where to go may be the stupidest idea I've ever heard of." X's voice rang out from the darkness. "Well, if you have a better idea, Number three, I'd love you to share." The group was quiet. Axl finally spoke. "Alright, I don't have a better one, but it's still a stupid idea." Shadow spoke for the first time in a while. "We don't really have another ch- " Delta interrupted him. "Doorway, dead ahead. Should we check it out?" Axl spoke first. "Anything to get out of these hallways. Go ahead." Shadow and X spoke their agreement, and the group entered the doorway. The first thing they noticed was that they could finally see, much to their delight. "Thank GOD." Axl said, rubbing his eyes. X shielded his eyes before they adjusted, and Shadow blinked several times. "Are we… Outside?" Shadow wondered aloud. They certainly seemed to be. Clouds in the sky, grass on the ground, sidewalks… there was one problem though. "If we're outside…" Delta spoke. "Then where are the other buildings?" They looked around and, much to their dismay, there were no other buildings. Not even the trees. It was grassy plains as far as the eye could see. Axl was the first to comment on that. "Well. This is a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, eh gentlemen?" Delta nodded. "No kidding… What's the plan?" Shadow shrugged, then turned to X. "Can you contact headquarters and find out where we are?" X tapped some buttons on his arms and shook his head. "No good. We're stranded here, pretty much." He sighed. "Any other ideas?" Delta shrugged. "We could go back into the building." The other three immediately shot a glare at him, shutting that idea down. "Well, it's either the building, or we start walking. We're getting nowhere by standing here, and we'll probably get a signal if we start walking." The others didn't have anything to disprove that statement, and so they began walking.

It was about an hour or so of walking before Delta got a chill up his spine. "Anyone else feel like we're being… watched?" Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yes, Delta. We're all being watched by the GRAAASSS!" Shadow wiggled his fingers while saying "spooky grass". Delta rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it. It feels like we're being watched by someone." X glanced around them. "Is it some _one_ or some _thing_?" Delta looked around himself. "I… I'm not sure. Come on, I don't like this place." The group continued through the plains, and it was so boring that Axl actually began to play I-Spy with Shadow.

"I spy…. Something green. " "Is it the grass?" "Wow, you're good at this, Shadow!" Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yeah, let's go with that." Axl sighed. "I'm trying here." Delta held up his hand to stop the group. "Do you guys hear… buzzing?" The group looked around for a moment before a shadow covered the group. Their eyes widened with fear and they all slowly looked up. A swarm of bug creatures that looked like a cross between hornets and locusts were looming above them in an almost tornado-like fashion. "Run." The group bolted forward, running and dashing through the tall grass. Delta turned to sneak a peek at the creatures, and was horrified to find that they were gaining on the group. He turned around and saw a black door in the middle of the plains. "THERE! HEAD FOR THE DOOR!" "OH GOOD!" Shadow shouted over the buzzing. "LET'S GO FOR THE DOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! WHAT A GOOD IDEA!" Axl ran faster than the rest of the group and got to the door first. "COME ON! HURRY!" Axl pulled out a pistol of some kind and began unloading into creatures. The shots were made of some kind of material Delta didn't recognize. They looked like smaller versions of the shots his arm cannon used. The creatures dropped quickly, but they were still coming. X reached the door soon, and Delta and Shadow followed suit. Running through the door, Axl unloaded a few more bullets into the swarm and shut the door behind them, leaving them in the darkness once again.

"I'm not gonna lie, Delta…" Axl began to talk. "Quite literally every time we've followed you we've ended up in darkness." Delta looked embarrassed, glad for the darkness for once. "I-I'm sorry. It just seems to be… the place we keep ending up…" X spoke up from the darkness. "What do you mean?" Delta looked around. "The Echolocation is back." The three groaned. "Not this again!" Delta looked around again. "Wait, this is different. This room…" He turned back towards the other three. "This is that copy room. The one you guys saved me in." Shadow looked at Delta. Or, the direction Delta's voice was coming from, rather. "How can you be sure?" Delta simply replied. "Because if you walk towards my voice, you'll see it." The three walked towards Delta and sure enough, they all were back in the room they all met in. "So let me get this straight." X started. "We saved you from whatever was in this room, walked around until we got to a grassy field, got chased by demon Locust Hornet things, and somehow found a door in the middle of the plains that led us BACK TO WHERE WE STARTED?!" Delta looked down and said. "I guess so. Do you have a better explanation?" X scoffed. "Sure, we've all managed to crossed over into one person's dream, all at the same time, and as of now they're in shock and SOMEHOW, keep in mind, this is all extremely improbable, it's our job to help them come out of said shock. Have I covered everything so far?" Delta looked angry for a moment, then sighed. "Look, we all want to get out of here. Let's just… rest here for a bit, okay? We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll even take first watch. We're tired, we're grouchy, let's just… sleep it off." Reluctantly, X laid down on one of the couches, as did Axl, on the opposite couch. Shadow opted to take the chair behind the desk, and almost immediately went to sleep. The other two followed suit, and Delta was left alone to think.

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Delta watched as his friends slept peacefully, despite the situation they were in. Mildly chuckling at the thought of someone being calm in this situation, he leaned back against the table in the middle of the room. He looked around the room. He hadn't talked with anyone in a while but…

 _Hey, Model D, can you hear me?_ Delta thought to himself. " _Sure can, Captain, what can I do for you?"_ Mildly relieved that he wasn't alone, he began to ask Model D questions about various things. Things like the history of Omnibasu Academy. Mostly, it was him fact checking. _So, I do have a question though._ " _Ask away, boss." You know that I know that we don't know exactly where we are. "Yeah, what about it?" But what we don't know is WHY we're here. Why are we in this specific spot? What brought us here? What the hell even DRAGGED me here?_ Model D audibly sighed within Delta's brain. " _Are you sure you want the answers to those questions? Because I have them, but if you don't ask, I won't give you the answers. Fair?"_ Delta nodded, then, remembering Model D couldn't see that, thought. _Alright. Fair. "Good. So, what's your first question?" Alright, so, I absorbed Project Alpha, right? What did that DO exactly? "Okay, that's an easy question. Have you noticed and itchy back whenever you're in danger?"_ Delta didn't say anything for a moment, but he soon realized that Model D was right. It was most apparent when those bug creatures were attacking. _Yeah, what about it? "Well, that's your fight-or-flight response, and whenever that happens, your so called 'Demon Form' shines through. Before you ask, your Demon Form was made up of every other project, but the problem is…" Let me guess, I lost all those powers somehow about the same time I got seperated from you? "Pretty much, yeah. However! By defeating and absorbing Project Alpha, you got your demonic piece back from him. The Tentacles."_ Delta was puzzled. _So the itching in my back is the tentacles from Project Alpha? And they're trying to get out? "Yep! More importantly, when you do release them, it'll hurt quite a bit, but the more you summon them, the easier it gets."_ Delta blushed unconsciously. _That sounds… unclean. "Mind outta the gutter, champ. Anyway, any other questions?" Just one… Is it just me but does doing all of this give you the strangest sense of Deja Vu? "I'd thought about that, but wasn't going to say it. If I had to guess… Have you heard of alternate timelines?" I think I have. "Well, I believe that something, be it event or person, causes an entire timeline to reset, while cleaning out everyone's memories, so it's like nothing ever happened. Everything just happens in a loop, repeating and repeating." Unless we stop it? "Hahaha! That's even IF we can stop it."_ Delta was going to reply, but he heard a sound coming from within the darkness, and he was surprised to find he was able to draw his weapons. _Alright, no more running._ He heard growling and scratching. "Everyone up, we've got company!" Quickly and quietly, they all snapped to attention, drawing their weapons. The door slowly opened revealing… darkness. The three glared at Delta and he began to stammer. "I-I-I swear I heard growling and scratching... " "H-Hello? Is anyone there?" Delta turned back around and was surprised, but not as surprised as the girl the voice was coming from. "Delta?!" "Monika?!"


	11. Chapter 10: Surprise Guests

Chapter 10: Surprise Guests

Location: Omnibasu Academy

Unit: Unknown

Time: Late Evening

Date: Month 9, Day 5

"Is there nothing we can do for her?" "Unfortunately, no. Once Delta and the remaining Organization members went missing, she fell into that coma and we haven't been able to reach her subconscious despite all our technology. Which means… The coma isn't natural." "You think it's some kind of supernatural coma?" "I think it goes worse than that. I think that her own guilt for something she's done that allowed some kind of creature to take control and resulting in… this." I nodded. "Even if that wasn't the case, do you think that her guilt has to do with some kind of event that happened in dimension 4-4-12-3?" "I think so. She's the only survivor from that dimension, so it's possible that either she was the cause of that anomaly, and she feels guilty for it, or she witnessed it and is traumatized. One way or another, we can't really get her out of that coma you without sending people directly into her subconscious." I look to the brown haired girl laying on the hospital bed. She looks like she's in severe pain, but can't show it. She was the lone survivor of her dimension. Her name was something like "Monika", but I'm worried that she won't wake up. She's the only one that can tell us what happened, and it probably isn't going to be pretty anyway. I just hope that whatever she's going through isn't too terrible.

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

"Wait, so, you just woke up in the darkness, heard voices, and found us?" "That's basically the long and the short of it, Ahaha…" Delta shook his head and looked to the other three behind him. "What do you all think?" They were all quiet for a moment. Shadow was the first to speak. "I'm not sure what to think. This all seems… supernatural." Delta just kinda looked at Shadow with seemingly disappointed eyes. "Shadow. I'm a demon made by a mad scientist, and I've already fought another demon made by said mad scientist. And you're worried about something being supernatural." Shadow rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Alright, fair point, but even so. Something's off." Delta opened his eyes. "Wait, maybe that IS a good explanation." X looked concerned. "You mean… There's another Demon Project around?" Axl looked around. "I hate to say it, but Shadow may be right. Why else would be all be conscious? Even Monika is here, and I don't think she'd be stupid enough to follow us." Monika rolled her eyes. "I'm not, trust me. I honestly… don't remember how I got here. I was walking with Rias back to the dorm to double check for more clues about where Delta went and I… woke up here I guess." Delta turned away and began pacing. "So, we're stuck here until we figure out how to get out, but I can't shake the feeling of this being a specifici attack on one of us." "What makes you say that?" Monika asked. "Well… Earlier, when it just me, I'd been in this room before, and there were copies of us, and they all were… staring uncomfortably at you. So call it a hunch, but I think that this creature is, for some reason targeting you." "Ahaha… I don't know why it'd be doing that…" It was then that the group heard a voice that can only be described as nails on a chalkboard. " **Well, Monika, now that's just rude. After all, it's not nice to lie, NoW iS IT?** " The group instinctively formed a circle around Monika, drawing their weapons. Delta looked towards the door. "Guys! Come on!" He ran towards the door, and was surprised when it was torn off the hinges by something that can only be described as a skinless dog with human teeth. It had fingers so long that they extended past it's knees. At least, they would if the creature wasn't hunched over, and the same could be said for its feet. It's eyes were black with white pupils. A soulless black. Delta backed away in fear, his back tingling and itching. " **PeEk A bOo! I fOuNd YoU!** " Delta tried to shout to the others to run, but was cut off by a sharp pain in his back, like something has burst from his back and ripped it open. He quickly realized that some kind of tentacle had grabbed Project Gamma and was being thrown around by it. No, wait, _he_ was throwing him around. When he realized that, he immediately stopped all motion of any kind. Project Gamma was struggling to get up. He turned to his friends and said one word. "Run." Without another word, they all dashed off into the darkness, leaving what little light they had behind.

They all ran for a while, taking short breaks, but continuing to run nonetheless. After what felt like hours of running, they all finally dropped in the darkness. Once they caught their breath, Axl was the first to speak. "Delta, do you mind filling us in on what the hell THAT was?!" Delta, still a little shaky, tried to respond as best he could. "Do you… remember… Project Alpha?" "Obviously, why?" "I… may have killed him and… absorbed him." Everyone spoke at once. "You did WHAT?!" "I-I'm not sure, but… I think I gained his power… I think that was how I was originally…" Before anyone else could even think of how to respond, Shadow spoke up. "That makes sense now… when you escaped, the Doctor dispatched me and one other Project to retrieve your data, because without it, you were supposed to be useless…" He chuckled a little. "I'm glad you weren't. Thing is, with that data, he can recreate it…" X finally spoke, saying what they all feared. "And he can make more project copies, right?" "That's right, X. The only problem is, that data was incomplete. He didn't want to give Delta too much power, in case he rebelled. He feared that about all his projects, so certain projects are weak to one another." "And you know this because?" Axl asked. Shadow chuckled. "I got into things I wasn't supposed to again. The usual." The group laughed a little, grateful for the laughter in a dark time. "So, everyone ready to start walking?" The group groaned, but reluctantly got up. It only took a little bit of walking before they could actually see one another. Axl pointed it out. "Hey! Guys! I can see you!" They all looked around and celebrated for a moment, with an awkwardly long hug between Monika and Delta. "Uh, Monika, Delta, you two can let go of each other now." X commented jokingly. They both let go of each other, clearly embarrassed. Shadow commented himself. "Well, you won't have to hold my hand anymore Monika." X clearly looked confused. "That can't be right, Shadow, Monika was holding my hand." They looked at each other before realizing what had happened, and Axl started laughing so hard he doubled over. The group was sent into hysterics, again grateful for another break from the gloom that was following the group. They all began walking again, and Delta stopped in his tracks after a while of walking. "We're not alone, everyone draw your weapons." They group drew their weapons, again forming a protective circle around Monika. X was the first to spot their foes. "Found em. They're all lined up. Form a wall." The group found themselves face to face with… well, some girls. Although, they'd looked like they'd seen better days. One girl had strawberry blonde hair, with blood on her hands, and she was holding a rope that had been formed into a lasso. The circle got larger and smaller, like a breathing rhythm. The other girl was a purple haired girl, with two clear stab wounds on her chest and stomach. Well, Delta thought they were stab wounds, given the bloodied knife in the girl's hand. And the four floating knives behind her. The last girl seemed comparatively okay, except she had no eyes. Not even eye sockets. Where her eyes and nose should have been, it was completely smooth. Her mouth was in a wide smile, which would have been less creepy if not for the dazzling white teeth. She was decked out with what looked like… Baking supplies, but they had an air of danger about them, as stupid as that sounded in Delta's head. Maybe it was the fact that her neck was at a ninety degree angle, allowing her pink hair to cover part of her face, but the fact that she was alive raised some questions in itself. Delta didn't have time to dwell on it though, as an all-too-familiar voice echoed behind the group. " **Hee hee hee hee… Now what do we have here? Fresh meat?** " They turned to see the creature from earlier behind them. Monika gripped onto Delta in fear, and Delta held her with a reassuring hug. " **So, I see you've met my friends, Monika. As it turns out, they're not too happy with you, but I personally can't imagine why.** " He grinned, and unlike the other girl's smile, it seemed to be more satisfied than malicious. " **I suppose I don't need to imagine why. After all, this is your reality, Monika. This is what you've created for yourself. Now, I must be going. After all…** " It took a step back into the darkness. " **You have a LOT of catching up to do… Hee hee hee hee…** " It disappeared, leaving the group in the dark space with their enemies. They turned to face them again, and, all at once, the girls attacked.


	12. Chapter 11: Sakujo

Chapter 11: Sakujo

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

"Duck!" Shadow shouted. The group ducked, and the girls all sailed over them. Monika screamed in fear, to which Delta stepped in front of her. "Don't worry, they won't get past us, right guys?" Everyone nodded. Axl and X took aim and fired some shots. X's shots were slower, but more powerful, while Axl fired like a machine gun from his pistol, not letting his target, the pink haired girl, catch her breath. Shadow rushed forward, clashing his shurikens with the purple haired girl's knives. Delta stood protectively in front of Monika, his beam saber drawn in a defensive stance. The group did battle, ducking and weaving past their target's attacks. The strawberry blond haired girl used her rope as a whip of sorts, as well as trying to grab X and squeeze him, but X always narrowly dodged the attacks while landing attacks of his own. Axl was matched evenly with the pink haired girl, with her using some kind of icing gun as a weapon, shooting various types of icing at him in various colors. The two traded blows, neither one letting up their attacks. They were evenly matched. Shadow was having the easiest time, as his shurikens didn't need to return to him to be thrown again. Shadow dodged a knife, throwing a shuriken before closing in on the girl and jamming one directly into her stomach, before using her body like a springboard and jumping off of her, pulling the shuriken out, now covered with blood. The girl laughed maniacally and rushed at Shadow with a knife that she held. Shadow summoned a large shuriken and used it at a makeshift blade to do battle with. Nearby, Axl rushed past his target, pistol whipping her, knocking her down. Before she could get back up, he shot her a bunch of times in the back of the head. Blood sprayed all over Axl. Monika cowered behind Delta, prompting him to comfort her. "It's okay, Monika, we won't let them get to you." She shook her head and clung to him. Delta was bothered by how she was acting. It was normal for someone to be scared in this situation, yet, but something about how she was acting seemed... Odd. Almost like she knew this was going to happen. "Can I ask you something, Monika?" She nodded. "Why does it seem like you know these girls?" She looked away, guilt filling her eyes. "I-It's because I _do_ know them… I-I used too, anyway. They were.. My schoolmates…" Delta became increasingly confused. Monika noticed his confusion. "I-I'll try to explain the best I can… See, in my world, there was… a glitch of sorts, and it allowed me to see into the code of my world. I saw everything in my world like a game of sorts. What people would call a "visual novel". So, I… I was going to leave everything alone, but then… I heard that voice… It was the voice of that white creature we saw earlier, it was telling me to be selfish and to take what I wanted. I… I listened to it. I erased the other three love interests of the "Main character" until I was the only one left. I gave them horrific, gruesome deaths, and, if I'm being honest, I probably deserve the same fate as them… Besides that, I haven't been able to see anything like that unless I'm in my own world, so it's possible that it only applies there. Besides that… That thing… it somehow brought them back… Not only that, but to make them attack people… they wouldn't hurt flies, but here they are, giving our friends a run for their money…" Delta nodded and turned back towards the battle. Axl was helping Shadow, as his target was down, and X was still locked into battle with the rope wielding girl. Delta turned to Monika again. "Okay, so if he brought them back, that would mean that he also made them crazy. OR…. they were never gone entirely to begin with." It was Monika's turn to look confused. "What do you mean?" Delta looked back towards the battle, then back to Monika. "If what the creature said is true, then we're currently in YOUR reality, Monika. Bring them back, I know you can do it. I believe in you. But in order for us to do that… We have some things to take care of." He raised his sword again and rushed into the battle, completely catching the strawberry blonde girl off guard. She didn't stand a chance to Delta's sudden beam saber siege, and fell instantly. As she was falling, Delta turned to the purple haired girl and fired off two buster shots. One hit her stomach, the other her heart, and the purple haired girl crumpled to the ground. Delta turned the group. "I'm sure you guys weakened them for me, but now isn't the time to worry about that." He turned to Monika. "Alright, Monika. Do your thing. If this works, we can bring them back." Monika closed her eyes, trembling. "I-I can try... " It wasn't long before she began to emit a bright light. She shone brightly for a bit before three beams of light shot from her body, finding their way to the fallen girls, completely healing them of the wounds the group had caused. They wounds they had beforehand were gone, as well. They looked like they were merely sleeping. Axl cheered. "It worked! I don't know what you did, but it worked!" X crossed his arms and smirked. "I knew you could do it, Monika." Shadow pulled his hood up around his face. "Hmm, how peculiar…" Delta smiled and hugged Monika, her bright light slowly fading. "See? Wasn't that hard." Monika smiled and hugged him back. Shadow went to each girl, checking their pulses. "Alive and well, from what I can tell at the moment. I'm sure the director would like to run a few more tests on them once we get out of here. If we can, anyway." Delta turned to Monika again. "Well, it would seem that it's your turn again, Monika." She closed her eyes again, but quickly opened them with fear in her eyes. "D-Delta, I-I can't-" " **Can't what, doll face? Can't bring your friends to the real world? Hee hee hee hee…** :" Delta and the others drew their weapons again, looking for their foe. " **What's wrong, Monika? Not in control anymore? Oh, that's right, you're in MY world now.** " Delta was the first to see him, and he stepped to protect Monika. "We may be in your world, but that doesn't mean we won't go down without a fight!" " **Oh, don't get me wrong, Defective, I was hoping you would at least give a good fight. After all…** " Blades shot out of his fingertips, and he licked his lips with hunger in his soulless black eyes. " **A good fight always makes me work up an appetite, and I love having an appetite before a meal.** " Delta turned back to his friends, who were all guarding the girls, both unconscious and conscious. Monika had tears in her eyes. They all solemnly nodded. Delta nodded as well before turning to face his foe. "I don't care what you do to me, but you won't hurt any of them. Your grip over Monika is no more. And that… " He raised his blade defensively. "Is something I'm going to make sure of. I don't care how long we have to fight. I will destroy you until there is nothing left of you. Not even a memory. Not even a dream."


	13. Chapter 12: Sequence Number 3-3-12-4

Chapter 12: Dream Sequence Number 3-3-12-4

Location: Unknown

Unit: Delta

Time: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Delta stood face to face with his opponent, his blade drawn, his buster armed and ready to fire. " **What's the matter, defective? Can't wait for me to end your life?** " Delta's eyes glowered for a second. "My name, Gamma, is DELTA!" Instead of opting for either of his weapons, Delta instead charged blindly at Gamma, punching him square in the jaw and sending him flying into the darkness. Instead of waiting Gamma to get up, Delta rushed at Gamma, swinging his saber blindingly in the darkness, where Gamma landed. Instead of running into darkness, however, he emerged from the darkness into what looked like a school building, one that he didn't recognize. He looked around cautiously, very aware that he was probably in some kind of trap. He looked outside, and what can be only described as Cosmic fire lapped at the windows, almost like it was trying to get in. The fire danced around the outside of the windows, but they didn't cast a shadow of any kind. Delta raised his buster and looked down the hallway, cautiously walking down the hallway. He opened a door and checked inside the room. It was a barren room, save for a table and two chairs in the middle of it. Delta got a strange sense of deja vu, but brushed it off. He exited the room, finding nothing else of importance. Not even a closet. A few windows exhibited the strange patterns outside. He looked down the hallway, unsure of where to go next. He looked behind him, and, finding nothing, turned back around and walked down the hallway, his buster armed and ready. He quietly walked down the hall, his armor's metallic footsteps echoing in the empty school. His breathing wasn't heavy, but he felt nervous about looking for his foe. He knew that looking for Gamma meant a fight, and one way or another, one of them wasn't walking out of it. He shook his head, clearing his mind of the thought. _I've taken down one Project, I can take down another._ Delta thought to himself as he came to an intersection, and, aiming his buster down each hallway in sequence, opted to take the hallway to his left. He went further down the hallway and found banners that had fallen and were torn to shreds. He could barely make out the words "school festival" on the banner. _This is awful… I hope to god no one was inside this hellhole when Gamma attacked._ Delta continued onward, repeating his process of careful steps and always aiming down the hallways. He began to hear an eerily familiar laugh. Delta grew more aware of his surroundings, taking in his escape options, as well as his fighting options. There was a table nearby he could use for cover if need be, and there was a room he could duck into. The table was decorated with cupcakes and frilly patterns. It was odd, seeing it untouched in the middle of the hallway, where so much destruction had taken place. Delta hadn't noticed it before, but claw marks and various markings lined the walls, giving him an uneasy feeling. Nevertheless, he pressed onward, the laughter growing louder and louder. The hallways seemed endless, never quite ending, and always leading into another, longer hallway. _This is like a maze…_ Delta stopped when he thought that. He had an idea. An outlandish one, but an idea. He looked around his immediate area, eventually going into a classroom that seemed festival ready. He picked up a piece of cloth that was colored a dark purple. After making sure it was long enough, he put the cloth over his eyes and blinked once. He took a step, and saw white circles emit from where he put his foot, tracing over the overturned desks and tables in the room. Delta laughed. It was such a stupid idea, but it worked. He turned in a circle, quickly finding what he was looking for. Red circles, the contrast to his white ones. He felt like an exterminator, mercilessly hunting this creature. He removed his makeshift blindfold and put it into his pocket. Or at least, he would have. He looked down to find that his armor didn't have pockets. Improvising, he wrapped the cloth around his wrist. Inexplicably, it reminded him of Monika. He vowed to himself then and there that he would destroy this creature and get everyone out of… wherever they were. Delta took another step forward, and it echoed loudly throughout the emptiness of the school. Delta got a chill up his spine, but he pressed onward. The red circle was moving at a steady pace, and he was moving to intercept it. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the circles. He was moving in closer and closer, until the red circle was just around the corner. Before Delta had even registered what it was he was going to do, he rounded the corner and punched the creature square in the face, sending it reeling and shrieking in agony. Delta knew he wasn't going to get another chance like this, and so he fired two shots into the creature, both into its chest and stomach. Delta pulled out his beam saber and began to charge Gamma, cutting into its hands and face and anywhere he could get a clear shot in. Gamma continued shrieking, and Delta got an all-too-familiar itching sensation on his back. He tensed up his back muscles, feeling something squirming and attempting to release from his back, before, all at once, four black tendrils shot from his back. Now, it was Delta's turn to screech in agony, but for a very different reason. It hurt. A lot. It felt to Delta like something had taken a knife, sliced his back open in four specific spots, and then ripped open the wounds with their bare hands. Most of the pain was nullified by Delta's adrenaline, however, and Delta quickly found that he had individual control over the tendrils. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he used the tendrils and wrapped one around Gamma's leg, lifting him into the air and throwing him into a wall. Delta picked up Gamma again and threw him into the opposite wall, and before Gamma had time to recuperate, Delta picked up Gamma by all four limbs, holding him in place with his newfound ability. Gamma was badly bruised and beaten. "You never were designed for combat, were you, Gamma?" " **You pathetic… defective… abomination… failure…** " Delta watched Gamma spit out insults almost pitifully. Gamma was a project made for nightmares, not combat, and Delta knew he was beat. Delta drew his sword and, with a single upward slicing motion, cut project Gamma clean in two. He let go of the limbs, and for a moment, Gamma looked fine. Until both halves of Gamma fell to the floor, opposing each other. Instead of muscles, blood, or anything like that, there was only a strange black ooze. Delta held out his hands and, in a beam of light that engulfed both Delta and the halves of Gamma, absorbed the remains of Project Gamma. He breathed a sigh of relief. At the end of the hallway, a new door had appeared, and unlike the door he and his friends found in the middle of the field, this one was warm and inviting. He walked towards the door, opened it, and stepped through.


	14. Chapter 13: Memories of a Nightmare

Chapter 13: Memories of a Nightmare

Location: The White Door: Dimension 4-4-12-3

Unit: Delta

Time: Mid Day

Date: Unknown

Delta stepped through the door and shielded his eyes to the bright light in the sky. Once his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in some kind of forest. He sighed. "Not this again…" He thought aloud as he began to walk through the forest. He was pleasantly surprised to come across a school building, and was even more surprised to see Monika. He ran towards her, but stopped when he realized something was wrong. She wasn't moving. Not like she was dead, but like she was frozen in time. He waved his hand in front of her face, and she didn't even blink. "Alright. Not the weirdest thing to happen today, but still odd." He attempted to poke Monika, thinking of anything, and was shocked when his hand went straight through her. Almost like he was a ghost. Frightened, he took a step back. To his sudden surprise, though, Monika started moving. Attempting to match her stride, Delta followed her into the school building. He quickly realized that this was the same school building before, when he was chasing Project Gamma. However, it was clean. Like nothing had attacked. Following Monika up some stairs, she suddenly stopped and opened a door. Her movements seemed natural, like everything was going back to normal. He followed her through the door, and was met with the three girls his friends had fought before, and they looked normal. Happy, even. There was another boy there, and when he and Monika looked at each other and smiled, then proceeded to share a quick hug, Delta suddenly got a sharp pain in his chest. Looking around frantically, he realized that he wasn't under attack and went back to watching the scene before him. They were all gathered in the center of the room. The purple haired girl pulled out a book with a triangle with a single eye in the middle and began reading. Delta was unsettled by the sight of the book, but the strawberry blonde haired girl and the pink haired girl were in deep conversation, and Monika and the boy were making lovey dovey eyes at each other, and Delta felt the sharp pain again. Shaking it off, he stared at the book again. The book began to glow an eerie red, but no one except Delta noticed. Delta saw shadows grow behind the group and heard an eerily familiar laugh. Delta watched with a blank stare as a large shadow grew behind the purple haired girl, with two dots Delta assumed were the shadow's eyes and a large toothy grin that, in any other circumstance, would have Delta shaking with fear. The only problem for the shadow, Delta wasn't afraid of it. He calmly stepped forward, pointing a single finger at the shadow. "You can't hurt them anymore. Your reign is over." The shadow, still grinning, simply dissolved into nothingness, as did the rest of the room. In fact, Delta shortly found himself falling into what can only be described as a white void. Looking around, he saw that Monika, who appeared to be unconscious, falling as well. The way her hair flowed around her as she fell struck a chord with Delta, and he reached out to her, catching her as she fell. As he caught her, the white void around seemed to shatter from the bottom to the top. She wrapped her arms around Delta, and he heard her crying and saying "I'm sorry." Delta hugged her tight and said, "It's okay. You're safe now. Nothing can hurt you now." It wasn't long until everything went dark once again. It wasn't a cold dark, though, it was a warm inviting dark. One where Delta felt comfortable. The threat was gone, for the time being, anyway.

Location: Omnibasu Academy: Infirmary

Unit: Delta

Time: Night

Date: Month 9, Day 7

Delta awoke with the feeling of not being alone, and attempted to sit up. He winced, having some slight vertigo from sitting up too fast. He looked around, finding he was in the familiar infirmary. He laughed a little. _I can't go two days without ending up in a hospital. Again._ "Mmm…" He looked to his left and found Monika curled up in a chair, and Ayaka laying down on a couch next to Monika. He furrowed his eyebrows wondering why they're here. He saw Monika stirring, and he froze, worried his movements might have woken her. He saw her roll over and snore loudly, and he breathed an internal sigh of relief. He was about to get off the bed when he heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Delta. Glad to see you're up." He turned towards the door and saw Shadow, with a smile on his face. "It is nice to know that nothing keeps you down for too long. You sorta disappeared off the face of the earth." Delta laughed a little. "It seems to be a habit I have." Shadow joined in the light laughter. "I'm assuming that you took care of Gamma? We were trapped in darkness for a while and then it sort of… shattered around us and we sorta appeared back in the square of the school. We took the other three girls to the infirmary, and they woke up rather quickly. They seem to remember Monika, so that's good. Delta… I don't know what it was you did, but Monika and Ayaka haven't left your side since you reappeared in the club room. They brought you here, and haven't left you since. It's kinda cute, how worried they were about you. Either way, they were very adamant that they stayed here. Heh, if I didn't know better I'd say they're falling for you." Delta began to blush. "T-That's… That's not…" Shadow laughed. "I'm pulling your leg. Either way, the director is wanting to meet with you. Whenever you feel up to it anyway, he said not to rush your recovery. You've been out for a while though. In fact… " He pointed behind Delta, to where Monika was yawning and rubbing her eyes, waking up. "I'll leave you to it, Delta. Don't strain yourself, alright?" Shadow turned and walked out the door, shooting one last glance at Delta. "We're not out of the woods yet. I fear this is only the beginning."

Delta watched Shadow walk out the door, and he turned back around to double check on the two girls sleeping behind him. He was grateful to find they're both asleep. He rolled over and started to close his eyes when he heard a noise. He thought it was coming from Monika, but he didn't want to alert her to his being awake. He felt bad about it, but he wasn't sure what to do. He listened to her cry in her sleep for a bit before rolling over and seeing her face buried in her hands. She wasn't asleep. He could barely make out what she was saying through her sobs. "I'm so sorry… It's all my fault… Why did you go after him…? You would have been fine… I'm sorry… I don't even know if you'll wake up… Or even if you can hear me… but I'm so sorry…" Delta felt an all too familiar pain in his chest, and he wasn't sure if what he was about to do was a _good_ idea, but he was trying it anyway. "Monika, It's okay. I forgive you. I'm here. It's okay." He quickly jumped to the floor and hugged Monika. She was shocked, but then started crying harder. "Y-You're okay… You're okay…" She kept repeating it to herself. "Yes Monika, I'm okay. I'm here. It's okay." Monika started apologizing again, and Delta held her in his arms and let her cry. After a while, she ended up falling asleep, having cried herself to exhaustion. He picked her up and put her in the bed he was laying in, and was going to sit in the chair when he felt her grip tighten around him. "P-Please don't leave me… I don't want to be alone…" Delta, unsure of what else to do, laid down next her, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. Delta a little confused about this sudden display of affection, but he wrote it off as the whole "being saved" thing. He figured Ayaka would grow out of her affections soon as well. Nevertheless, he put his head on the pillow and almost instantly fell asleep, holding Monika close.


End file.
